Umicore is investing 450 million euros in expanding its recycling plant in Hoboken. The company already recycles 17 critical, valuable and precious metals there, including gold, silver, platinum, rhodium and palladium. The company carries out recycling using a smelter.

The Hoboken plant will now expand to include a second recycling method using chemicals. “This will also enable us to refine and recycle cobalt, our 18th metal,” said spokesperson Caroline Jacobs. The investment will also provide additional capacity to recycle antimony and tin, among other metals.

The investment was already announced but has now been formally approved. “This is an important investment for Belgium and the European critical raw materials value chain,” the company said. The investment will be carried out between 2027 and 2030, with the facility expected to come into operation in 2030.

At the same time, the company intends to cut jobs. Umicore says the aim is to simplify its operating model. The company plans to standardise more, including through automation and artificial intelligence. This means it intends to cut up to 350 jobs worldwide over the next two years. The cuts will affect support roles in finance, human resources, procurement and IT. Umicore employs around 11,000 people worldwide, approximately 3,200 of them in Belgium.

The spokesperson said that just under 100 jobs are expected to be lost in Belgium. Umicore operates in Hoboken, Olen, Bruges and Brussels.

“To sustain our performance and growth over the long term, we need to invest in our industrial capabilities while making our organisation more effective,” said chief executive Bart Sap. With a simpler and more agile operating model, Umicore aims to achieve annual savings of around 60 million euros by the fourth quarter of 2028.

The company has begun consultations with trade unions and works council representatives.

The initial translation of this content was generated by AI. All facts, context, and language have subsequently been verified and validated by a human editorial team.
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