AL Circle Analysis: Aluminium’s recycling economics, trade walls and carbon rules converge
The story of the aluminium industry is starting a chapter wherein scrap availability, recycling technology, trade policy, carbon costs and demand growth are becoming increasingly interconnected. From the US and Canada to Europe, India, New Zealand and China, recent developments show that the global aluminium supply chain is being reshaped on several fronts at once. These developments point to a changing aluminium business model: access to metal alone may no longer be enough. Quality of recycled feedstock, domestic processing capacity, carbon intensity, trade exposure and the ability to meet increasingly specific customer requirements could become equally important competitive factors. Join the fourth edition of the webinar “Hedging for recyclers - Become an expert in 6 hours” by Jorge...
Europe holds 10% of global aluminium extrusion demand, supported by Germany’s Constellium, France’s Hydro Extrusions & Italy’s Metra
Across Europe, aluminium extrusion has become closely woven into some of the region’s biggest industrial and construction markets. From automotive and transport to buildings and industrial applications, extruded profiles are finding demand across a wide range of sectors. This is reflected in Europe’s position in the global market: the region accounted for 12 per cent of global aluminium extrusion capacity, making it the second-largest regional contributor after China. At the same time, Europe represented 10 per cent of global aluminium extrusion usage, out of total global usage of 35.35 million tonnes . With production capacity and usage shares relatively close, Europe’s extrusion capacity and consumption are broadly at par. If we break down Europe’s 10 per cent share of global aluminium...
Grow with
AL Circle
“The adoption of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by the EU poses a substantial challenge to India's aluminium industry and has the ability to influence the worldwide price of aluminium,” Abhijit Pati, Chief Transformation Officer, Aluminium Business, Vedanta Ltd.
Mr Abhijit Pati is the Chief Transformation Officer of Aluminium Business in Vedanta Limited. He is a name to reckon with, who owns a bag full of rich experience and illustrious career in the aluminium industry for over 30 years. An Alumni of Calcutta University, Abhijit Pati started his career as an engineer with Indian Aluminium Company (a subsidiary of ALCAN, a major Canadian aluminium Producer) in 1989. As a young and budding professional in his early career, he was awarded the 'Exceptional Contributor Award' by Group Chairman Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla for his significant contribution to the turnaround story of the Hirakud Aluminium Smelter in the year 2006. Also, he bagged the Prestigious British Sword of Honour for Hirakud Smelter in 1999.Now, with his enriching knowledge, he is...
“Nowadays, producers are exploring the notion of the circular economy by rethinking their production methods, such as closed-loop recycling.”
AL Circle: Can you please provide a brief overview of EPIQ Machinery and its role in the aluminium recycling industry? What makes EPIQ Machinery stand out from other companies in the same sector? EPIQ Machinery: Even before recycling became in vogue and the versatility and multiple uses of aluminium were found applicable in various sectors, under the MECFOR brand, EPIQ supported its secondary plant producers to optimize their operations. For many years, secondary facilities have been the poor children of industry. To ensure their profitability, it became imperative to have a high-yield pragmatic approach. This is how the 'Smart Casthouse' solution took off and is now experiencing great enthusiasm for both secondary and primary facilities. Not only for the optimization of the fleet of...
“Gouda Refractories is a worldwide reference in the field of secondary aluminium, and it seamlessly matches the design and the choice of materials to the specific needs of the industry and process”, Miki Lagers, Sales Manager, Gouda Refractories
Miki Lagers is a competent and well-rounded sales expert with 20 years of experience defining and optimizing commercial skills in various occupational areas. He has displayed the ability to combine an excellent sales strategy with the capability of knowledge of the human nature of different cultures. He joined the more than-century-old Netherlands-based Gouda Refractories as Sales Manager in April 2022. His ability to work collegially with team members and leaders across business units and lines of business drives and promotes organizational change whilst embedding governance principles to move the organization up the functional excellence curve. AL Circle: Can you provide a brief overview of Gouda Refractories and its role in the secondary aluminium industry? Miki Lagers: Gouda...
“The primary task of the Polish Aluminium Association is to promote the use of aluminium in all possible applications. In doing so, we inevitably promote the use of recycled aluminium”, Andrzej Michalski-Stępkowski, President of Polish Aluminium Association
“The primary task of the Polish Aluminium Association is to promote the use of aluminium in all possible applications. In doing so, we inevitably promote the use of recycled aluminium”, Andrzej Michalski-Stępkowski, President of Polish Aluminium Association. Andrzej Michalski-Stępkowski has been associated to the Polish metal market for over 20 years. Having initially served as a journalist and editor at Rzeczpospolita, one of Poland's most widely circulated daily newspapers, and later transitioned into the role of publisher for 'Nowa Stal' Magazine. Since 2016, he has held the position of President of the Polish Stainless Steel Association. In 2021, he assumed the role of the inaugural President of the Polish Aluminium Association, and he continues to lead both organizations to this day....
“Due to the intense amount of energy required to create aluminium from raw materials, the need to recycle aluminium is extremely important to reduce our country’s energy consumption in creating this resource.” – PanelCycle
PanelCycle Bio (extracted from LinkedIn): We are pleased to offer a comprehensive solution for the responsible recycling of combustible ACP cladding that has been removed from buildings in Australia. Our team will expertly collect the materials from your site and transport them to our state-of-the-art facility. Our recycling process employs a specialized machine to shred the collected panels, and separates them into valuable aluminum and polyethylene powder. Thank you for considering our services and for prioritizing environmentally conscious practices. AL Circle: How was the idea of PanelCycle materialised? What were the first concerns behind this initiative? PanelCycle : We were looking at doing recladding because of the current need to remove combustible cladding and found there was no...
“The increasing consumer focus on sustainability and environmental protection is driving the demand growth for aluminium”, Dr Ashok Nandi, President, International Bauxite, Alumina and Aluminium Society (IBAAS)
High cutting precision, lower wear and reduced energy consumption. These three features make the machine conceived and designed by GME, in partnership with Bosch Rexroth, a one-of-a-kind item. GME, the acronym for Gianni Mori Engineering, is a company based in Monza with a technical division in Voghera. Maurizio Mori, GME Marketing and Sales Manager, said, “We are active in two main sectors - aluminium recycling and lead battery recycling - and we create, design and draw machines and even entire lines in-house”. “We outsource our production - he adds, through a rigid control chain that fully covers the management of approximately 280 suppliers we resort to, in order to ensure the highest quality at all times.” GME's way of working allows the company extreme flexibility, a condition that...
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift towards the concept of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Remanufacture and Recycle’ as a strategy for building a low energy, low carbon, and low environmental impact future”, Dr Subodh Das, CEO, Phinix LLC
AL Circle: Globally, we are witnessing an endeavour within the aluminium industry to focus on recycling. How much positive impact will it bring over the next few years? Dr Subodh Das: The Paris Agreement aimed to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius over the 21st century. It also recognized the need to reduce global emissions substantially to achieve the goals. Meanwhile, it was claimed that circular economy strategies could reduce emissions by 40% in 2050 in the production process of key materials. Hence, the growing focus on aluminium recycling is a part of the greater goals of the circular economy and reducing global warming. We are witnessing a paradigm shift towards the concept of “Reduce, Reuse, Remanufacture and Recycle” as a strategy for building a low energy, low carbon,...
“JNARDDC has formulated guidelines for Dry Stacking of red mud to reduce the disposal problem. Dry stacking is the most popular and the best practice till now, followed by alumina refineries worldwide," Dr Anupam Agnihotri, Director of JNARDDC
Dr Anupam Agnihotri, Director of Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), Nagpur, India, has willingly participated in our e-Magazine: 'Recycling - Reshaping the future of the Aluminium Value Chain' to share his knowledge on red mud recycling. He has spoken about the best recycling practices for red mud and the industry-trend applications of the by-product. He has also suggested the red mud disposal processes that would have lesser impacts on the environment. Dr Agnihotri is a Metallurgical Engineer from IIT Kanpur with PG Degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur. Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) is a "Centre of Excellence" set up in 1989 to make...
“Sustainability has always lain at the brand's heart since its inception in Provence in the 1970s,” said Mona L’Hostis, Head of Global Travel Retail Marketing - L’OCCITANE Group
Mona commenced her career with L'OCCITANE Group in 2013 as International Marketing Fragrance Product Manager in Paris, followed by International Marketing Executive in Skincare. She then became the company's International Body Care Group Manager in Switzerland in 2016 and progressed to Head of Marketing Travel Retail EMEA & Americas. Since 2019 Mona has been Head of Global Travel Retail Marketing for L'OCCITANE Group. AL Circle: What inspired you to use recycled aluminium for packaging? Was sustainability there in L’OCCITANE since the beginning? Mona : L’OCCITANE en Provence has been an eco-pioneer since its inception in 1976, when it operated an in-store glass bottle return policy. The brand is committed to using eco-friendly manufacturing methods, eco-design, and sustainable packaging...
“Of the material fed into the plant, approximately 85% of the aluminium is recovered.” – Andrea Troy, Business Developer, Enval
My background in the plastic recycling industry started with 2 years of experience working at Viridor Polymers serving as the Commercial Manager in the Polymers team, overseeing all accounts and contracts for rigid plastic recycling through mechanical processes, specializing in PE, PP, and PET. In January 2022, I joined Enval as the Head of Commercial and Business Development, leading. I lead the business development efforts of Enval's innovative recycling technology, with a specific focus on increasing the recycling of flexible plastics and laminates. I am passionate about driving positive change, and actively seek collaboration opportunities and invite others to connect with me to explore synergies or gain insights into my experiences in the plastic recycling field. AL Circle: How much...
“Aluminium recycling saves a significant amount of energy compared to producing new aluminium, which directly translates into a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions”, David Van Heuverswyn, Director Every Can Counts Europe
Born in Belgium in 1975, David joined European Aluminium in March 2008, initially working on issues related to Public Affairs, Communications & Packaging. In 2015 he became Coordinator of the Packaging Group, and in 2019 he was appointed Manager of Packaging Group and Director of Every Can Counts, Europe. Since then, the Every Can Counts programme started growing outside Europe with the inclusion of Brazil in 2019 and recent pilot projects in the United Arab Emirates and the USA. Today the programme is active in 20+ countries worldwide. Over the years, David accumulated extensive experience and knowledge in the aluminium and can-making industries while developing professional communication, marketing, recycling, sustainability and management skills. AL Circle: How is Every Can Counts...
“The ambitious staffs of Ad Rem is putting in all possible effort to maintain Ad Rem’s position as a front-runner in the industry”, Jelle Saint-Germain, Sales Engineer, AD REM
In 2013, Jelle Saint-Germain earned his degree in chemical engineering from the University of Ghent and immediately embarked on his career as a project engineer at Valvan. Shortly after completing his studies, he embarked on a professional journey as a project engineer at Valvan, the leading company within the Valtech Group. Valvan specializes in designing and manufacturing baling presses and textile sorting machines. After accumulating three years of technical experience, he was offered a transfer to Ad Rem, a subsidiary of the Valtech Group, where he began his role as a sales engineer in 2016. As part of his responsibilities, he had the opportunity to travel to Sweden for an 8-week period. During this time, he played a vital role in the launch of Europe's largest flotation plant,...
“Alcore has developed a process to recover hydrogen fluoride from aluminium smelter bath, which is combined with aluminium hydroxide to produce aluminium fluoride”, Dr Mark Cooksey, CEO, ABx Group
In early 2020, Dr Mark Cooksey assumed the CEO role at ABx Group, leveraging his expertise and leadership. Prior to this, he held significant positions in process improvement and development at esteemed organizations like Rio Tinto, GE, and Australia's national science agency, CSIRO. Over his 25-year career, Dr Cooksey has remained dedicated to driving process innovation, showcasing his adeptness in advancing and bringing novel processes within the minerals sector to market. Notably, he has played a pivotal role in revolutionizing the aluminium value chain. AL Circle: Can you provide an overview of ABx Group's subsidiary Alcore and its areas of expertise? Dr Mark Cooksey: Alcore has developed a new process for producing aluminium fluoride. Its core expertise is chemical engineering,...
“We expect aluminium extrusion to continue to be a critical element in high-rise buildings – whether office or residential – and a major factor in other building segments, such as mid-rise and institutional buildings”, Guy Charpentier, Division Marketing Director, Bonnell Aluminum & Lynn Brown, Market Development Consultant, AEC
AL Circle: How do you envision the future of aluminium in the construction sector? What trends or developments do you expect to see in the coming years? AEC: Despite rapid growth in transport applications, construction remains the largest end-use sector in North America (the U.S. and Canada), representing around 35% of total consumption. We expect aluminium extrusion to continue to be a critical element in high-rise buildings – whether office or residential – and a major factor in other building segments, such as mid-rise and institutional buildings. Extrusions’ role in these structures will be driven by efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of buildings, ongoing improvements in building energy and resource efficiency, and increased focus on occupant health and well-being. Reducing...
“Aludecor is the first and only brand in the industry to have collaborated with an Institute like IIT to manufacture the best FR-grade ACPs in the country”, Ashok Kr Bhaiya, owner and CMD of Aludecor Lamination Pvt Ltd
Ashok Kr Bhaiya, owner and CMD of Aludecor Lamination Pvt Ltd, has an inspiring story of re-introducing ACP in India and reaching the pinnacle. In 1999, while managing the import-export business, this promising material caught his eye. The millennium was changing then, and so was the lifestyle. He travelled to various parts of the US, Europe & Asian Nations to learn about the production technology and other nitty-gritty used in ACPs. In 2002, he re-introduced this high-potential product in India with state-of-the-art ACP manufacturing facilities, advanced equipment & futuristic technology, along with a coil coating line in Haridwar under the brand name of Aludecor. AL Circle: How do you foresee the demand for aluminium composite panels for building facades and interiors in India this...
“The construction sector is respectful and committed to the environment and environmental values while serving as the engine and the objective of all the cities in the world”, Luca Lorini, Head of Sales, ALTEX
In 2000, Luca Lorini embarked on his career in the aluminium extrusion machinery manufacturing industry. He began working for an Italian company and was involved in various aspects of the business, starting from the factory and eventually progressing to overseeing installations at customers' sites. This role allowed him to travel extensively and experience life in numerous countries across the globe. After gaining valuable expertise in the service department, Luca transitioned to the sales department in 2010. He began a journey to establish his own sales business, opening sales offices across various countries and forging robust international alliances in 2010. His efforts led to the creation of strong global relationships and cooperative ventures. Later, in 2014, he took a significant...
“India’s construction sector is expected to be the third largest in the world after China and the US, with an expected overall value of USD 1.4 trillion by 2025,” Rahul Sharma, CEO, Vedanta Limited – Aluminium Business
Rahul Sharma is the Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta's Aluminium Business. Prior to this, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta's Alumina Business and also held the position of Director of Corporate Strategy for Vedanta's Aluminium and Power Business. He joined Vedanta in 1998 and has held various leadership positions at Vedanta Limited and Sterlite Technologies Limited. Before joining Vedanta, he was Chief Marketing Officer (Domestic and International) and Business Head of System Integration Business at Sterlite Technologies Limited. He is one of the principal figures of India's Metal & Mining industry and has been playing a significant role in driving various policies and creating a strategic framework for numerous government reforms for the sustainable development of...
“Architects have shown great creativity in using aluminium for thousands of iconic designs around the globe”, Khaled Abdelmoneim, CEO, ALUPCO
Khaled Abdelmoneim was appointed the CEO of ALUPCO in 2009. With a robust 32 years of experience, he has held various positions across multiple industries in engineering, project management, sales, and general management. Khaled left his mark in esteemed multinational organizations like Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo International before holding his position at ALUPCO. As CEO of ALUPCO, Khaled has diversified and expanded the company’s practices across the value chain with a global reach and sustainability top of mind. AL Circle: How do you envision the future of aluminium in the construction sector? What trends or developments do you expect in the coming years? Khaled Abdelmoneim: Like all other industries, the construction industry is heavily influenced by the rapid growth of...
