Primary vs recycled AL: Which will dominate as Europe’s automotive sector heads toward yearly 4.2Mt of aluminium demand by 2030?
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Europe exports roughly 1 million tonnes of aluminium scrap every year, enough material to potentially reduce the region's primary aluminium imports by nearly 24 per cent if retained and recycled domestically. Yet despite recycled aluminium production already catching up with primary output, the automotive industry continues to include a higher percentage of virgin metal.
All at the same time, the region’s automotive industry is entering a period where aluminium procurement strategies are becoming as important as vehicle design itself. Driven by electrification, lightweighting requirements and increasingly stringent sustainability targets, automotive manufacturers are consuming more aluminium than ever before.
The transition is, though, far from straightforward. While recycled aluminium offers significant environmental and energy advantages, primary aluminium continues to account for the majority of automotive-grade aluminium requirements because of quality, alloy composition and supply constraints.
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