Benjamin Pope’s career spans over 20 years in the metals industry, with a concentration in non-ferrous materials, primarily aluminium. His experience encompasses the full spectrum of aluminium products, including billet, flat-roll, secondary ingot, and various scrap streams, all within the context of supporting the automotive industry. This hands-on experience in the buying and selling of aluminium has given him a deep understanding of the industry’s processes and a robust network, enabling him to introduce and implement new technologies aimed at improving aluminium circularity.
AL Circle: Looking back at 2025, how would you characterise the aluminium recycling landscape and its defining trends? In what ways has the industry transformed amid rapid technological breakthroughs?
Benjamin Pope: 2025 proved the thesis of an ever-tightening scrap market. Governments around the world are looking to protect aluminium resources by region, which has amplified the race for high-quality aluminium scrap units, especially in countries that have minimal primary aluminium capacity.
The continued push for lightweighting and higher energy costs is driving the desire to consume more scrap in all aluminium products. Consequently, the industry is investing in new technology to improve scrap utilisation to supplement primary aluminium and improve profitability.
AL Circle: With primary aluminium production facing headwinds across several regions, how do you see scrap stepping up to meet the growing demand for lightweight metal?
Benjamin Pope: Scrap is necessary to support a competitive aluminium market, as ever-increasing energy costs continue to impact primary aluminium pricing. All scrap substitutes are necessary to maintain a robust global aluminium material market. The largest single volume of scrap is the mixed materials stream known as Zorba; sorting this product is necessary to support a competitive aluminium industry in the future.
AL Circle: Could you walk us through your major recycling technology milestones from 2025 and share what innovations we can expect from your company in 2026?
Benjamin Pope: 2025 was our proof point, achieving mass production scale and demonstrating scalability. Mixed aluminium materials have been challenging because composition changes occur during sorting. Every time you pull one product away, the other products can be downgraded due to leftover composition. Sortera's approach is to upgrade all products, thereby providing value to all aluminium end markets. Our sortation of multiple products in one pass allows us to achieve greater efficiencies than other sortation equipment.
In 2026, we will focus on enhanced sortation for additional products; demand will drive how mixed aluminium scrap should be processed. Alloying agents tend to move the value of scrap; typically, Cu, Si, and Mg are key elements from which value can be extracted through scrap sortation. Generally, the world knows the aggregate composition of Twitch, but in a sorted state, no one truly knows the exact makeup. Sortera's technology is defining scrap with a piece-by-piece analysis, which clarifies what is available in the current mixed aluminium market. The transparency gained by knowing what is available and how to optimise those benefits will be known to the aluminium industry. Simply put, our technology allows us to pay suppliers for the value they provide and sell products that are upgraded to support a competitive aluminium market.
AL Circle: As demand for recycled aluminium accelerates, how are you planning to scale your sorting and recycling capabilities? Are you planning to develop new facilities or expand existing capacities in 2026?
Benjamin Pope: 2026 will kick off our second mass production facility in Lebanon, TN, with production scheduled to begin in summer 2026. The second site confirms our ability to replicate the model, which will lead to additional growth beyond two plants in the coming years.
AL Circle: What is your outlook for recycled aluminium demand growth rate in the United States? Does the country currently have the infrastructure needed to support its shift toward higher recycling and sorting rates?
Benjamin Pope: The demand for scrap will increase year-over-year, driven primarily by energy costs. The anticipated growth of data centres, which is raising the cost of energy, has already led to aluminium companies selling off power rather than using it for manufacturing aluminium.
The current scrap infrastructure is short on sortation capacity today, though additional capacities will come online over the next few years. Sortera plans to be a market leader, as we are focused on all end-use aluminium markets.
AL Circle: How do you expect aluminium scrap trade flows into the United States to evolve, especially as the EU’s exemption of scrap from CBAM positions it to draw more material from global markets?
Benjamin Pope: Scrap imports will continue until trade policies are enacted to counter higher pricing in the US. US scrap positions are currently long due to reduced consumption from some large players experiencing outages. Overall market demand remains stable, with new capacity expected in late 2026.
The EU is looking to finalise its exemption/tariff position in spring 2026. If finalised, the impacted countries will be forced to seek units elsewhere, making the US a major market to make up the deficit. The US has been looking to legislate limits on UBC exports; if this occurs, it could set a precedent for additional limitations as the overall scrap market continues to tighten.
We are living in unprecedented times concerning regional resource protectionism.
AL Circle: Could you please tell us the biggest challenges you expect aluminium recyclers to face in 2026? Also, can you provide them with some solutions?
Benjamin Pope: The main challenge in 2026 will be managing supply amidst the implementation of sustainability targets, the impact of tariffs and exemptions, and potential industry consolidation.
The key solution is optimising the resources we have. Currently, downgrading wrought aluminium into die-cast alloy is limiting the available wrought scrap needed for the robust growth segments of the aluminium sector. End-use OEMs control the supply chain and are positioned to encourage the necessary changes to unlock more scrap across all aluminium products. A circular approach, or upcycling by alloy, is the ultimate value proposition, resulting in high recovery, reduced chemical additions, and improved scrap content for all aluminium products.
