On February 28, 2024, Constellium SE unveiled its leadership in a fresh R&D venture named "Close the Loop," collaborating with a consortium of recycling enterprises in France. This partnership encompasses INDRA (specialising in automotive recycling), GALLOO (a prominent figure in metal recycling), and MTB RECYCLING (known for its expertise in metal shredding and sorting).
Constellium is an industry-leading provider of comprehensive rolled and extruded aluminium solutions catering to the worldwide automotive sector. Through strategic collaboration spanning the value chain, the company actively champions the low-carbon transition and advocates for a circular economy.
Funded in part by the French Environmental Agency ADEME under the France 2030 program, the ‘Close the Loop’ project aims to develop technologies to dismantle, sort and remelt wrought aluminium from end-of-life vehicles to be used in future vehicles. Recycling aluminium requires only 5 per cent of the energy used to produce primary metal and emits 95 per cent fewer GHG emissions.
With the escalating prevalence of aluminium in end-of-life vehicles due to the automotive industry's increasing adoption of lightweight materials over the last two decades, it becomes imperative to ensure the efficient recycling and repurposing of this metal for new vehicle production.
Various methods, such as complete vehicle shredding and disassembling aluminium-rich parts, will be evaluated from both technical and economic standpoints. Constellium's C-TEC research and development centre will also prototype novel aluminium Auto Body Sheet alloys featuring enhanced impurity tolerance. Concurrently, the centre is exploring innovative technologies to reduce carbon emissions in melting processes.
Ludovic Piquier, the Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Excellence and Chief Technical Officer at Constellium, said, “We are proud to lead the Close the Loop project and look forward to further demonstrating Constellium’s commitment to providing low carbon footprint aluminium, as well as the benefits and feasibility of circularity, to our automotive customers.”
“We believe this project will further strengthen aluminium’s position in the automotive market as manufacturers and consumers demand more sustainable mobility solutions.”
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