Nissan invests £52mln into Sunderland plant for closed-loop aluminium production

The £52mln investment into Nissan’s Sunderland facility will enable the use of recycled and lightweight aluminium for the production of Qashqai vehicles to reduce the energy required for material processing.

The investment in aluminium production at Nissan’s Sunderland plant includes a second extra-large press line that was launched last year and the cyclone – a recycling facility that blasts scrap metal out at 150km an hour and can handle more than seven tonnes of metal an hour, ensuring less waste and a greener production process.

As bonnets and doors are stamped into shape, scrap material is shredded and extracted, keeping aluminium grades separate, making a closed-loop recycling system for scap aluminium.

The facility’s aluminium production will contribute to the development the all-new Qashqai – Nissan’s first model built in Europe using a significant number of lightweight aluminium panels.

The bonnet, doors and front wings are stamped from aluminium alloy, which makes the Qashqai body 60kg lighter than the previous version. This improves efficiency on emissions and helps accommodate more technology, including Qashqai’s electrified powertrain.