“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 feasible solution to recycle once the cladding was removed. We began researching how we could recycle the large volume of cladding with aluminium and PE composition and came up with a solution of how we could break down the cladding and separate the aluminium from the core. 

Some concerns we had were whether the business model was viable, offtake markets, and industry-accepting costs associated with recycling.

AL Circle: Why do you think recycling is the need of the hour? Are there any benefits of aluminium recycling? 

PanelCycle: 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. Our initiative promotes a circular economy and moves away from single-use products by feeding recyclables into the manufacturing stage to re-use the embodied carbon within the existing, now redundant ACP cladding panels. 100% of the material received is diverted from landfill.

AL Circle: How much aluminium is being returned to the material cycle by the technologies applied by PanelCycle? How much impure is the aluminium your retrieve, and how is it clarified? 

PanelCycle: Approximately 10-15 tonnes of aluminium per week is being separated and ready to be sent to manufacturing. The aluminium is 99% pure.

AL Circle: How does PanelCycle envision helping the Australian aluminium economy? 

PanelCycle: PanelCycle provides granulated aluminium to many suppliers that require this product that usually would use virgin aluminium. This saves the cost and energy required to break down virgin aluminium into granules. 

AL Circle: How long before PanelCycle’s retained aluminium gets industry certified?

PanelCycle: As part of our research and development, we sent materials for testing to suppliers, and we now have a working solution. 

AL Circle: What are the risks associated with combustible ACP claddings, and as panel recyclers, are there any difficulties you face?

PanelCycle: Combustible cladding currently on buildings is highly flammable and is getting removed Australian-wide to reduce the fire risk. Even with the removal and storage of this material, it is still flammable. Initially, finding offtake markets was a difficulty we faced, as well as having the manpower and machinery to process the material that was coming in. However, we now have processes and relationships in place which have put us in a position to recycle all panels removed from all around Australia. 

AL Circle: What is the future of PanelCycle in the upcoming five years? Is there any collaboration the company is looking forward to? 

PanelCycle: In the future, PanelCycle is working towards recycling solar panels and glass in buildings.