The new recycling plant built by Altech Recycling LLC in North Little Rock, Arkansas, will produce recycled materials destined for new Toyota vehicles. The plant, worth $20 million, started operating in September. It came into existence after the St. Louis-based Alter Trading Company, a scrap metal company, acquired the Arkansas-based Tenenbaum Recycling Group’s eight facilities three-and-a-half years ago.
The plant sources materials for recycling from automobile shredder facilities in North Little Rock and Rogers. Jack Grundfest, Alter Trading Corporation President and the former head of Tenenbaum, said the shredding process produces a stream of materials. The mixture of metals, known as zorba, reaches the plant, which separates lighter aluminium, a product known as twitch.
The twitch will then be melted in furnaces in Birmingham into an alloy used for producing transmission housing, engine blocks and automotive parts in Toyota products.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said the new plant is part of a larger effort toward the state’s objective of achieving a greater share in the auto manufacturing industry.
“If you look at the national map as to the supply chain and automobile industry, it all moves our direction, and we have key suppliers here. … This is good for Arkansas because it puts us one step closer to making the case that we ought to have a major manufacturer of automobiles right here in this state,” Hutchinson said.
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