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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Girl Scouts of the USA is proud to announce the results of Girl Scouts Forever Green (GSFG), its signature 100th anniversary "Take Action" project targeting waste reduction, energy conservation, and rain gardens. Alcoa Foundation provided a two-year, $1.5 million grant to expand the program globally to 12 countries. This grant enabled U.S. and international councils to work together and lead their families, schools, and communities in improving the environment and protecting natural resources. The Girl Scouts Forever Green 100th Anniversary "Take Action" project was created after Girl Scouts' research found that an overwhelming number of girls deem protecting the environment a top priority. Harnessing its members' passion for preserving natural resources and focusing on three main...
The U.S. continued its decade-long upward trend of aluminum can recycling in 2012 with a rate of 67 percent, according to data released by the Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). This is the highest recycling rate since the early 1990s and the second highest rate reported since the survey began in 1972. The new rate marks progress toward the industry’s goal of 75 percent recycling by 2015. The new rate means that in 2012, the aluminum can industry recycled some 62 billion domestic and imported cans while shipping 92 billion cans in the U.S. The energy saved from this recycling equaled 19 million barrels of crude oil which could fuel more than 1.7 million cars for a full year. The increase in the industry’s recycling...
A coalition of businesses in Michigan is driving a major overhaul of the state’s Nonferrous Metal Regulatory Act to make the sale of stolen scrap metal harder to get away with. The major change in the existing law is to expand it to include ferrous metals — iron and steel — in addition to nonferrous metals such as copper, aluminum, lead, nickel, tin and zinc. Other proposed changes relate to how and when an individual selling scrap is paid, and requirements for recording an image of the seller and the material being sold, up to and including videotaping the transaction. The Michigan Railroads Association is an active member of the coalition, as is the Michigan Farm Bureau, Consumers Energy, phone companies, MDOT and local governments, according to Jon Cool of the Michigan Railroads...
A £6,000 aluminium tiger that was part of a Christmas display in the French port of Calais was stolen by thieves and discovered 150 miles away at a Roma gypsy camp in Paris. Weighing 440lb and 8ft long, the tiger was among exotic animals in a display for children. It was taken after only two days and workmen had to repair an illuminated panda after migrants began using it as a shelter. Police believe the tiger was stolen by a gipsy gang in Paris who planned to sell it for scrap. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart has called for her town to be declared a high security zone and blames Britain for attracting migrants across the Channel and causing the port to become a bottleneck. Following repeated calls for action in December French Interior Minister Manuel Valls ordered a company of 60 riot...
The aluminum beverage can industry raised $133,695 for local charities by recycling 178,099 lbs. of cans, which equates to more than 5.7 million beverage cans, for the Can Manufacturers Institute’s (CMI) Great American Can RoundUp Industry Challenge. Ball Corporation scored first place in the annual competition by recycling nearly 50 percent of the entire amount collected – 88,473 lbs. of cans. Rexam and Crown Holdings came in second and third place, respectively. The Great American Can RoundUp Industry Challenge is sponsored by CMI and held annually to raise awareness for the environmental benefits of recycling cans. The participating American can manufacturers and aluminum suppliers – Rexam, Ball Corporation, Crown Holdings, Novelis and Alcoa – engage their plant facilities to partner...
You would have to collect about 3,200 empty aluminum cans to hit California’s new limits on aluminum recycling that kick in on Wednesday. That works out to 100 pounds, give or take a Bud Lite or three. The new limit is a fraction of the old one of 500 pounds of aluminum, glass and plastic per person at any one time. The reason for the lower limit is to discourage out of state trash collectors from hauling tons of the stuff into California to get cash. Neighboring states do not have the cash-for-cans program like California’s, making the hauling of their empty cans and similar detritus to California for money. Californians play a redemption fee of 5-10 cents per beverage, depending on type, which in turn pays for the recycling. But the out-of-state dumpers have sucked up a lot of that...
The festive period is traditionally the season for giving, but it’s also an opportunity to give something back. Milton Keynes Christian Foundation is helping people recycle aluminium foil packaging and aluminium drinks cans left over from the new year party. Not only will you be helping this worthwhile cause, but you’ll also be doing your bit to help the environment too. The Milton Keynes Christian Foundation is a local charity that works primarily with young people and young adults who are outside education, employment and training. Over the years it has developed work in relation to a wide range of community and environmental issues and the collecting of aluminium packaging and cans is one such project. All residents need to do is make sure the recycled waste is included in their pink...
Worldwide, nearly a thousand major aircraft are due for disposal each year and yet the industry is 'short of procedural methods' for recycling them, according to Prof. Dr Joerg Woidasky of Pforzheim University in Germany. However, 'the field of aircraft recycling is developing very fast at the moment,' he reassured delegates at the first International Symposium on Aircraft Recycling in Stuttgart, Germany. More than 25% of the current civilian aircraft fleet will be decommissioned in the coming 15 years. A troubling factor is that a modern-day Boeing 787, Airbus A350 XWB or similar aircraft is no longer produced predominantly from aluminium but from compounds. At present, recycling processes for these compounds are still to be implemented or made widely available, added to which there is a...
It is said that about 1 tonne of untreated waste and 500 cubic metres of wastewater were discharged daily into the Nam Thanh Commune's Binh Yen Village. Over the past five years, some 269 of 570 households in the village have been engaged into the process of recycling aluminum, mainly from beer cans to manufacture pots and pans. Recent findings from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment indicate that the contents found in the surface water of Nam Ninh Hai River were 12.2 times higher in pollutants than permitted. A 53-year-old villager said her family began recycling aluminum years ago since the monthly income from recycling aluminum was double or triple what they received growing rice. "We only received about VND1-2 million (US$47-94) per month when we grew rice," she said,...
The 325 tons of aluminium alloy, including part of the fuselage, cannot be moved until all investigations have been concluded. The twisted remains of Pan Am flight 103 lie in a forgotten heap – 25 years after a terrorist bomb sent it crashing into Lockerbie. The 325 tons of aluminium alloy, including part of the fuselage bearing the identification number N739PA, are fenced off in a scrapyard and cannot be moved until all investigations into the atrocity have been concluded. After the outrage over south west Scotland on December 21, 1988, parts of the plane were taken for examination to an army base near Carlisle. The mid section, where the bomb exploded, remains under wraps at the HQ of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough, Hants. But the rest of the wreckage, including...
Environment Minister Andrew Powell has urged Queenslanders to give the environment a special Christmas present this year by recycling as much Christmas waste as possible. “Christmas is a time of giving, and on Christmas morning we love nothing more than unwrapping presents,” Mr Powell said. “Don’t deck your halls with piles of paper, cardboard and plastic wrappings – make sure they go into the recycling bin or recycling facility. "The latest electronic devices will prove popular Christmas presents but any old devices should go to the appropriate recycling facility for electronics. “Electronic waste and toxic items such as batteries should not be placed in your recycling bin. “Waste televisions, computers, printers and computer products can be dropped off for free at designated access...
Most of the discarded home appliances can be recycled, but the hard part is classifying them into the right category. But now, thanks to a new technology, recycling promises a better and more efficient outcome. This is an e-waste collector developed by local researchers that can sort out plastic into three different types, and separate metals into aluminium, copper and stainless steel. "The machine sorts out the waste by using near-infrared rays and analyzing the wavelength reflected on the plastic. As for the metals, it separates them by distinguishing their differences in color." Valuable waste resources that have in the past been difficult to categorize are now expected to show a recycle rate of up to 95 percent from the current 85 percent. Experts believe it will kill three birds with...
The overall recycling rate for aluminium beverage cans in the EU 27 + EFTA countries increased by 2.4% points to a new record level of 68% in 2011. If the collection of cans in the remaining European countries and Turkey is included, this means that more than 25 billion cans are recycled in Europe annually. This represents a total amount of 365,000 tons of recycled aluminium, avoiding 3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. The European Aluminium Association (EAA) is confident that the aluminium beverage can recycling rate will further increase towards the voluntary targets set by the industry for 2015 (75%) and 2020 (80%). However, in order to achieve these ambitious levels, it is important for the full value chain involved in the recycling of cans to continue to invest in existing...
"The earth below South Africans’ feet may be rich in many minerals, but one element has always been missing – this nation imports 100% of the raw materials it needs to make aluminium. Savvy urban prospectors in Gauteng, however, have detected a mother lode of the metal spilling out of bars, restaurants and homes, in the shape of aluminium cans. A revolution has begun in the South African packaging industry. Well over R1-billion in capital investments by Hulamin, Nampak, South African Breweries (SAB) and Coca-Cola Southern Africa will crush the old, tin-lined steel beverage can and toss it into history’s dustbin. In the past few months, both South Africa’s largest brewer and its main soft-drink company have converted nearly all of their Gauteng filling lines to aluminium cans. The rest of...
Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, said that it will invest an additional USD 205 million to further expand its global automobile recycling operations. The company plans to build new finishing lines at its plants in Oswego, NY and Nachterstedt, Germany. They will be dedicated to the production of aluminum automotive sheet. The 2 new lines will each have a capacity of 120,000 metric tonnes per year. The latest expansions are in response to the escalating global demand from automakers for aluminum sheet, which the company expects to grow by more than 30% per year through the end of the decade. When the new lines are commissioned in late 2015, Novelis' global automotive sheet capacity will reach approximately 900,000 tonne per year, a 3 fold increase from just a...
With some 1000 heavy airliners in need of disposal each year and modern planes being made from compounds instead of just aluminium, there is a need for more research and communication between the recycling and aviation industries. This is one of the messages to come out of the first International Symposium on Aircraft Recycling taking place in Stuttgart, Germany. Until now, the bigger parts of aircrafts were produced with aluminum, but a modern Boeing 787 or Airbus A350 XWB is now made of compounds. Materials used during manufacturing include short and long carbon fiber composites, textiles and carpet, landing gears, electronic devices, titanium and steel alloys and other parts. For these compounds, recycling processes are not yet implemented or available. Also, there is a lack of markets...
Secondary aluminum could one day be automakers’ primary choice, a Novelis Inc. executive said. "They are not in that position yet, but they are asking. They want to be," Marco Palmieri, senior vice president and president of Novelis North America, said Dec. 17. "And I really believe that in the medium- to long-term, that will become a reality." Such a potential step change would likely be driven not only by automakers specifying recycled content rather than primary metal in their aluminum orders, but also by younger buyers who are increasingly aware of the benefits of recycling, Palmieri said. In the meantime, Atlanta-based Novelis continues to try to improve its closed-loop recycling program with customers as it looks to recapture the roughly 40 to 50 percent of sheet left as scrap at...
European aluminium beverage can recycling at record level of 68% Brussels, 16 December 2013: The overall recycling rate for aluminium beverage cans in the EU 27 + EFTA countries increased by 2.4% points to a new record level of 68% in 2011. If the collection of cans in the remaining European countries and Turkey is included, this means that more than 25 billion cans are recycled in Europe annually. This represents a total amount of 365,000 tons of recycled aluminium, avoiding 3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (source: Environmental Profile Report_ April2013). The European Aluminium Association (EAA) is confident that the aluminium beverage can recycling rate will further increase towards the voluntary targets set by the industry for 2015 (75%) and 2020 (80%). However, in order...
