Gov. Andy Beshear was in Guthrie on Monday to help break ground for the $365 million Novelis aluminum recycling center that’s expected to employ 140 workers.
The facility will serve the automotive market with an annual capacity of 240,000 tons, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Novelis, based in Atlanta, is the world’s largest aluminum recycler. It runs 33 advanced rolling and recycling facilities in nine countries.
“The new facility will be located near the company’s existing automotive finishing plant on Old Railroad Lane in Guthrie,” the release states. “Novelis leaders expect the project to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by more than 1 million tons each year and enable the company to grow its automotive recycling programs in North America. Use of recycled aluminum as input material requires only 5% of the energy used to make primary aluminum, in turn eliminating 95% of the carbon emissions associated with production.”
Todd County Judge-Executive Todd Mansfield thanked Novelis and others involved in the development, including TVA, the city of Guthrie, Todd Fiscal Court, the governor and Pennyrile Area Development District.
Also praising the development were Carter Hendricks, executive director of the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council, and John Walton, president of the Todd County Industrial Foundation.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
