Europe’s recycled aluminium industry is an important component of the global secondary aluminium supply chain, with Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom (UK) representing key national markets. Production across the European region stood at nearly 6 million tonnes in 2023, supported by established scrap recovery systems, industrial recycling capacity and demand for recycled metal. Russia also contributes to the regional landscape through secondary aluminium production units concentrated in several industrial centres. According to AL Circle’s analysis in its report, “ World Recycled ALuminium Market Analysis Industry Forecast ”, the four countries present different market structures, from Germany’s substantial recycling capacity and Italy’s scrap-based production to the UK’s organised...
According to SMM survey statistics, the operating rate of the secondary aluminium alloy industry in September was 35.0 per cent, up 3.1 percentage points M-o-M but down 6.7 percentage points Y-o-Y. Industry production continued its recovery trend, but the overall operating level remained below the same period last year. On the demand side, September marked the traditional peak consumption season, with downstream orders recovering from August. End-use demand from automobiles and other sectors improved marginally, but the peak season effect has yet to fully materialise. According to CAAM data, automobile production in September was 2.99 million units, up 11.4 per cent M-o-M but down 8.7 per cent Y-o-Y. NEV production was 1.814 million units, up 12.2 per cent Y-o-Y. CAAM noted that China's...
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The nonferrous market in Europe may be finding some solid footing, which could be good news for the overall health of most nonferrous metals markets there. One sticking point continues to be China, which continues to send mixed signals on its economy. For aluminium, after a modest price rally, the metal has fallen quite significantly. Reflecting the challenges for European handlers of aluminium has been the drop in aluminium premiums. Various reports note that aluminium premiums in Europe have fallen by around 42% this year from last year’s level. Despite some difficulties, there does appear to be improved demand in a number of countries, with a sense that buying could start to strengthen later this year. Adding the positive signals, the European aluminium producer Norsk Hydro completed...
A new brochure from the Washington, D.C.-based American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (AMERIPEN) portrays what the group calls the sustainability benefits of different beverage package types and the materials from which these containers are produced. The brochure, titled Beverage Packaging: Delivering Taste, Safety, and Sustainability, says Americans each drink about 175 gallons of beverages each year, “much of which is delivered in plastic jugs, aluminum and steel cans, glass bottles, gable top and aseptic cartons and flexible pouches.” According to AMERIPEN, such packaging “reduces economic and environmental waste by matching the amount of beverage to be served or properly stored with the packaging type needed to effectively and efficiently deliver that product.” Regarding...
The growing demand from Nampak follows the conversion of beverage can body stock in South Africa from steel to aluminium. “In the rest of the world aluminium makes up 90% of all beverage packaging, so we appreciate that Nampak has decided to convert their plants. While the conversion has taken place in soft drinks, beverage cans as a packaging material are still under-represented in alcoholic drinks packaging. This is changing as supermarket retailers distribute ever greater amounts of alcoholic beverages. They tend to prefer cans because they are lighter, stack better, use space more effectively and get colder quicker,” says Jacob. While the company is staying mum on the financial benefits of its new recycling plant, investment managers have been taking a stab at what the investment will...
Aluminium and steel fulfil the criteria for ‘permanent materials’ as defined in a study by the Swiss consultancy Carbotech AG. The study confirms that the current approach of classifying materials as renewable or non-renewable is insufficient for the development of good practices in sustainable resource management. Carbotech, in collaboration with the University of Applied Science Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), conducted a scientific study to look closely at the characteristics of materials to provide a clear, unambiguous and simple basis for material classification. In the study, permanent materials are defined as those whose inherent properties do not change during use and regardless of repeated recycling into new products. Their recycling does not necessarily require the addition of...
Indian aluminium scrap prices on Scrap Register Price Index remained flat on Wednesday, while aluminium futures prices at India's Multi Commodity Exchange traded down. As per Scrap Register Price Index, major copper scrap commodities like aluminium accessories scrap, aluminium ingots, aluminium rod company, aluminium rod local, aluminium sheet cutting, aluminium utensil scrap, aluminium wire scrap traded almost flat on Wednesday. However, the most active May aluminium contract on Multi Commodity Exchange last traded down by 2.20% to Rs. 121.85 per kilogram from previous close of Rs. 124.60 per kilogram. The MXC aluminium prices touched an intra-day high of Rs 125.60 per kilogram and an intra-day low of Rs 120.90 per kilogram. MCX aluminium settled down on Wednesday gave back most of gains...
The U.S. aluminum industry purchased an estimated 770 million pounds of aluminum scrap during February 2015, according to aluminum recycling statistics published by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of Interior, up 5.7 percent over the February 2014 total of 728 million. USGS estimates that recovery of aluminum and aluminum alloys totaled 657 million pounds, an increase of 6.4 percent year-over-year. Through February, preliminary data indicate that recovery of aluminum from scrap totaled an estimated 1,328 million pounds, up 6.5 percent over the 2014 YTD total of 1,246 million. U.S. exports of scrap, not included in the government’s consumption statistics, totaled 457 million pounds YTD, down 21.9 percent from the same period in 2014.
Alunorf, the world’s largest aluminium plant for hot rolling and remelting, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of operation with an extensive revamp. Alunorf, in Neuss, Germany, is a 50/50 joint venture owned by Hydro and Novelis. Rolled aluminium processed by Alunorf is used throughout Europe and far beyond as printing plates for newspapers, as hoods, doors and other components in automobiles and elsewhere in transportation, as yoghurt lids, beverage cans and in many more applications … but there is no Alunorf brand marketed or visible on the products. This makes Alunorf a “silent giant” of the aluminium industry. The current investment of about €80 million into Hot Mill 1 will increase capacity by 150,000 tonnes per year and is in addition to other recent projects totaling about €50...
At its Annual Convention and Exposition held last month in Vancouver, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) released two new videos aimed at providing the public more information on the value and impact of the recycling industry. The videos, focused on plastics and tire recycling, represent the fourth and fifth in a series of educational videos highlighting different commodities. “These videos showcase many of the great accomplishments of the plastics and tire segments of the recycling industry,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “These videos, along with the entire series, draw attention to and help educate the public on the many environmental, economic, and energy-saving benefits recycling offers. As the Voice of the Recycling Industry, ISRI will continue to make a...
Local schools and individuals collected more than 1.1 million aluminum tabs in the Pull Tab Pandemonium fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri. The tabs will be sold to New World Recycling, which has drop-off sites in Columbia and Jefferson City. The price of aluminum fluctuates, but the 952 pounds of aluminum collected is expected to raise about $300, said Rachel Ellersieck, director of development and communication for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Taylor Carr and her family collected 345 pounds of aluminum, winning the family category. Mill Creek Elementary School in Columbia raised 55 pounds, Oakland Middle School in Columbia raised 45 pounds and Smith Cotton High School in Sedalia raised 63 pounds. Andrea Wemhoff collected the most tabs as an...
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), the Voice of the Recycling Industry™, announced today the launch of three school recycling curriculum pilots in Staten Island, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; and Kalamazoo, Michigan. These pilots combine standards-based lessons that teach the science of recycling with local outreach through community recycling partners for students to receive hands-on learning on the recycling process. Over the last few years ISRI has worked closely with JASON Learning, a nonprofit organization and long-time partner of the National Geographic Society, to develop a recycling curriculum for teachers to use within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects in grades K-12. This comprehensive curriculum includes curricular...
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, D.C., has recognized two individuals who took over their family businesses and “ushered in an era of innovation and success for the entire recycling industry,” according to the association. During ISRI’s 2015 annual convention, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in April, Scott Newell, founder of The Shredder Company, Canutillo, Texas, and Toby Shine of Shine Brothers Corp., Spencer, Iowa, were each presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. “This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winners helped shape the industry as we know it today and how it operates. Furthermore, they each made significant contributions to ISRI and their communities through leadership roles and experiences,” said Robin Wiener, president...
With the help of Collect-a-Can, Bisant Matsi has gone from waste collector to a prominent and successful recycling business owner in Burgersfort, Mpumalanga, inspiring his local community by showing them the value that exists in waste. Nineteen years ago, Matsi, started his recycling operation with only seven employees. Two years later, he started collecting cans and working closely with the Collect-a-Can, Southern African recovery and recycling organisation. Collect-a-Can works within various communities, encouraging citizens from all walks of life to assist in their can-collecting efforts. “We teach informal collectors that they can make a living or even start their own ventures by recycling cans,” says Zimasa Velaphi, public relations and marketing manager of Collect-a-Can. Burgersfort...
Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, and Atlanta brewery Second Self Beer Company today announced the launch of Second Self beer in aluminum cans, made from Novelis evercan™ – the world's first and only certified high-recycled content aluminum can sheet. The news was announced today in Savannah, Georgia, during the International Society of Beverage Technologists' annual meeting, BevTech 2015, just in time for summer vacation and festival season. "At Second Self we spend a lot of time perfecting the flavor profile of every beer we make, from how it first hits the pallet to what foods it pairs well with," said Jason Santamaria, Beer Architect, Second Self Beer Company. "Now that the warm weather is here, we want consumers to be able to enjoy these same flavors...
Laying the foundation stone for the integrated recycling line for used beverage cans (UBC) at its Neuss plant in Germany, Hydro today marked another milestone in this EUR 45 million project. The recycling line, covering an area of some 20,000 square meters, will double our existing annual recycling capacity to around 100,000 tonnes and be able to process a wide range of can scrap. “We are installing world-leading technology to sort used products, which will make us a better recycler. The new facility, scaled to process 50,000 tonnes of used beverage cans, will make us a bigger recycler and a greener company, as we through recycling of aluminium avoid 95 percent of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium and bring the aluminium resources back to new life,” says Executive Vice...
A Rathdowney councillor has appealed to the council to be the first local authority to run a recycling collection pilot scheme using a special collection lorry which could call to estates or particular area’s around the county. As last week’s meeting of the Borris-in-Ossory/Mountmellick area councillors, Cllr John King proposed that the council introduce a deposit and refund system for schools and clubs to encourage people to recycle cans and bottles in order to stop dumping in the countryside. Councillor King also introduced the concept of the specially adapted collection trucks to the council executive. “In England they have these trucks with separate compartments for plastic and cans, paper, food waste, glass and cardboard. They are bought by the different councils and go around...
If you have any soda or beer cans lying around, Saturday's the day to recycle them. Right now recycling one pound of cans will fetch about 30-cents. But on Saturday, Moscow Recycling is offering 45-cents per pound. It only takes about 30 cans to make a pound. And every little bit helps because aluminum can be recycled over and over again. "It saves not only cans from going into the landfill but from the natural resources and the raw resources it takes: the bauxite it takes to make an aluminum can," said Sandye Crooks, Community Outreach and Education Coordinator. The buy-back runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Moscow Recycling. There'll be free goodies, drinks and healthy snacks, as well as gift certificate giveaways and a raffle.
Metal recycling organisation Alupro has called for an “overhaul” of how PRNs are issued, following a shortfall in the amount of aluminium packaging recovered in the first quarter of 2015. Alupro, which represents aluminium packaging producers, claims that delays in the accreditation process means that a large amount of aluminium recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA) has been underreported in the provisional data. The interim figures, which were published by the Environment Agency earlier show that 14,871 tonnes of aluminium was accepted or exported between January and March 2015 – below the estimated 18,000 tonne quarterly obligation that producers needed to be on course to meet the 2015 target. Some industry experts blamed the shortfall on the removal of protocols for aluminium...
In recognition of the 45th Earth Day, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is joining individuals and organizations around the world in celebration of the earth and what can be done to preserve it. Earth Day, started in 1970, takes place annually on April 22 in a worldwide effort to save and nurture the environment of which recycling plays a crucial role. “Each year Earth Day provides us with an important reminder not only of the need to do our part to protect the earth, but also the positive impact the recycling industry has on the environment and energy savings,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “Together with our members, ISRI serves as an environmental steward to not only promote recycling at all levels, but also to educate future generations on the importance of...
