Sortera Alloys, Inc., an innovative industrial scrap metal sorting and recycling company, announced the company's expansion into a new 200,000 sq. ft. processing facility in Markle, Indiana.
A formal groundbreaking of the new facility will take place in Q4 2022, with processing starting to ramp up in Q1 2023.
Sortera's technology sorts, captures, and recycles high-quality aluminum from existing streams of mixed alloy scrap that are typically shipped abroad for processing or downgraded into lower-quality secondary materials. The resulting aluminum scrap created by Sortera's sorting process is recirculated back into the manufacturing industry to be used in high-value applications, such as automotive cast and flat-rolled products and building, construction, and aerospace extrusions.
"The new facility represents a significant milestone for Sortera as we look to scale our operations and capture a large chunk of the 4 billion lbs. of scrap alloy that is currently sent overseas. This will allow us to fill the increased demand for high-quality recycled alloys in the domestic market, specifically with automotive customers," said Michael Siemer, CEO, Sortera Alloys. "We are immensely grateful to the town of Markle and The Zacher Company for helping us to bring this vision to reality with the new facility, and we look forward to being a contributor to the local economy and community."
The new facility has the option to expand to 400,000 sq. ft. It is located just outside of Markle, Ind. (roughly 25 miles southwest of Fort Wayne), off of Interstate 69. The company plans to move its existing operations from Fort Wayne to the new facility, with initial processing operations starting in Q1 2023. Once fully operational, the facility will employ approximately 110 workers.
"Sortera's low-cost, scalable sorting process enables aluminum manufactures to use roughly 5% of the energy required to manufacture aluminum from virgin material, enabling customers to reduce their CO₂ footprint and pursue sustainability and circular production goals. Our new facility is a perfect fit for our first mass production location. We are excited that Markle has the right workforce and is a special place that is proactively looking for partners to enhance their community," said Ben Pope, VP of Commercialization, Sortera Alloys.
"On behalf of the Town of Markle we are extremely excited to have Sortera choose and invest in our local community. Their impact on our community will be very significant with little impact on our local environment. The Town would also like to thank the participating parties, RTT Real Estate Holdings LLC, The Zacher Company, Huntington County Economic Development, Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and Day Warpup Farms LLC for the vision, investment, preparation, and development of the land to allow Sortera the opportunity to succeed," said Nick Lund, VP and Matt Doss, President of Markle Council.
The news follows the announcement by Sortera in July 2022 of having raised $10M in funding to advance end-of-life recycling for automotive metals. The funding round was led by Assembly Ventures with additional funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Novelis, Inc. In addition to the recent funding round, Sortera announced a commercial agreement with Novelis Corporation that enables Sortera to deliver high-quality aluminum feedstock directly to Novelis to be reused for automotive manufacturing components.
