
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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A recycling-for-gifts event raised about $2,500 to help buy Christmas gifts for Smyth County children this year. "Cans for Christmas" at Berry Iron and Metal Company was an event that encouraged customers to bring in aluminum cans to recycle at 55 cents per pound. Berry's matched the day's payout to help buy Christmas presents for needy children who have not been 'adopted' through programs or by individuals this year. A total of 1,631 aluminum cans brought nearly $900 in donations, according to a written statement. Cash donations from employees and donors helped boost the funds to buy gifts.

Blue Can Pure Water comes in recyclable single serve aluminum cans with a 50-year, shelf-life. “Our philosophy is to reduce the use of plastic bottles with a sustainable product rather than legislative bans. Our vision is to scale our technology globally, taking on mounting consumer waste by putting a dent in the 63 billion plastic bottles entering oceans and landfills annually,” says Angela Morente Cheng, a co-founder of Blue Can. Blue Can is the “ecological and convenient alternative” to plastic bottles, she continues, and perfect for sustainable disaster relief in addition to emergency preparedness. Immediately following Typhoon Haiyan, Blue can sent 10,000 can to victims and wants to send 40,000 more to the area through a charitable donation campaign with sponsors such as Wells Fargo....

A couple changes in the city’s recycling program are coming this summer: large rolling recycling trash cans and a bi-weekly recycling pickup. Williamsburg City Council members voted 5-0 Thursday to enter an agreement with the Virginia Peninsula Public Service Authority (VPPSA) to change recycling companies. As a regional body, VPPSA now takes care of recycling contracts for York County, James City County, Poquoson and Williamsburg. It’s a way, Director of Public Works Dan Clayton said, to leverage price – a larger pool of serviceable houses means a better bargaining chip with companies. Right now, VPPSA pays $138,000 to Chesapeake-based Tidewater Fibre for a once-weekly recycling collection service. That contract runs out on June 30, 2014 and, after Thursday’s meeting, it will not be...

A crackdown on trash halfway around the world has disrupted the U.S. recycling industry and could cost North Jersey municipalities some of the coveted revenue they earn from selling the paper, plastic and aluminum cans that residents put out at the curb. For much of this year, China has rejected bales of recyclables shipped from the United States that are too contaminated by regular trash. China’s effort to erect what’s become known as a “green fence” against contaminated recyclables has prompted recycling companies here to start charging financial penalties to the towns and corporate clients whose recyclables are tainted with too much regular garbage. “Make no mistake: This is a serious situation that can have major repercussions for the future of the recycling industry in the U.S.,”...

Leeds residents are being encouraged to leave metal screw caps on glass bottles and jars when recycling at the city’s bottle banks. People can screw the aluminium tops back on empty bottles before dropping them at recycling points across the city. The ‘you can leave your cap on’ campaign has been designed by Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) to make sure that the aluminium caps from glass bottles are recycled. Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for the environment, said: “It’s the ideal time to get into the habit of screwing caps back on and helping to boost our recycling figures.” Cap fits: Leeds residents are being encouraged to leave the cap on their glass bottles and jars when recycling at bottle banks.

‘Tis the season for more than your average amount of trash, with all the wrapping paper, gift boxes and Christmas trees. So, the City of South Padre Island’s Environmental Health Services department is reminding residents about the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling. “You can recycle many items during the holidays,” says a press release from the city. “The recycling program was developed to reduce items going into landfills that can be harmful to our environment.” The recycling center is located at 4501 Padre Blvd. and it’s open each Saturday between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. People are asked to bring aluminum cans, aluminum foil, and tin cans. They also can bring newspapers, office paper, magazines, wrapping paper, cardboard and gift boxes for recycling. The center will also accept...

According to a recently released Harris Interactive Poll, despite wanting to recycle used electronics, consumers often lack the knowledge needed to properly recycle. To address this problem, Earth911, a subsidiary of Quest Resource Holding Corporation, and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), are joining forces on a new public awareness initiative called Project Reboot. Project Reboot is designed to increase and encourage the safe and secure recycling of household electronics. Project Reboot aims to bring together businesses, corporations, and civic groups to educate the public on the need to responsibly recycle electronics. Year-long education efforts will not only focus on the need to recycle electronics, but also on the importance of doing it responsibly through a...

Recycling aluminum uses about 95% less energy than making new one from bauxite ore, which compares very favorably with other types of recycling. For example, recycled plastic requires 70% less energy and paper uses about 40% less. That's pretty good, though as we've said many times, it's always better to just use less stuff to begin with, to find ways to reuse what you already have, or repair it, etc (the 7 Rs). But even if we apply these principles, we all use stuff anyway, and it's better for these raw materials to be recycled into something useful than to end up in a landfill. To go back to aluminum, the fact that recycling it saves so much energy combined with the fact that it can be recycled almost an infinite number of times (it doesn't degrade like paper or plastic) mean that it...

The Middle East (ME) aluminium scrap market is expected to witness a surge by 2015, according to Frost & Sullivan projections. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have set targets to reduce vehicle weight by 10 to 15 per cent to increase fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emission, and hence aluminium could contribute substantially to this initiative. Aluminium usage in automotive is likely to be incorporated for manufacturing of cylinder heads, engine block, suspension and wheels. Aluminium wheels and engine scrap contribute to nearly 16 per cent of overall EOL (End of Life) scrap generated in the ME. As a result of adoption of sheet aluminium and aluminium profiles in luxury passenger cars, the usage of aluminium scrap in automotive is further set to rise. The luxury...

Public and private school students in Fayette County collected more than 146,000 aluminum beverage cans weighing 4,180 pounds during the 2013 Recycle Bowl. Mayor Jim Gray lauded their efforts Dec. 5 during the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council meeting. The eighth annual citywide contest, formerly known as Cans for Cash, challenged the 19 participating schools to gather and recycle as many cans as possible from Oct. 21 through Nov. 15. Wise Recycling, Central Kentucky Fiber, the Keep Lexington Beautiful Commission and LFUCG’s Division of Waste Management contributed prize money. In addition, schools were paid by the pound for the cans they recycled at Wise Recycling and at Baker Iron and Metal. Schools with the most cans per student in their respective size category each received...

The Co-operators has announced extended support for funding the Arctic Co-operatives Limited aluminum recycling program in Nunavut. The additional contribution of $26,000 will allow Arctic Co-operatives to expand and improve the program, which operates in 23 communities in the territory. The new funding from The Co-operators will permit Arctic Co-operatives to expand its operation with the addition of central can crushing equipment. This equipment will allow for significant overall reduction of transportation costs. This expansion will allow Arctic Co-ops to recycle up to two million cans per year, and donate more from the recycling program to local community groups. “Through this program, we are leading communities in the Arctic to achieve a cleaner environment and reduce consumption of...

Nestlé, Walmart Chile, Coca-Cola Chile, PepsiCo, and Unilever have signed a partnership to reduce waste and support a new recycling network in Chile. The companies have backed the Collective Recycling Project, which aims to recycle about 1,200 metric tons of waste per year through the installation of five recycling centers in the capital of Santiago. The centers, managed by Triciclos, an organization that specializes in recycling and sustainable consumption, can each recycle about 20 different types of materials such as glass, PET plastic, aluminium, paper, cardboard and clothes. In turn, the companies will receive energy recovery data on each type of waste. Nestlé says it will use this information to redesign its product packaging to reduce waste and improve the environmental performance...

Manufacturing plants are getting brighter and cleaner. A Japanese-based company is adding to this trend with aluminum frames for workstations and factory shelving. SUS Corp. has designed workstations and assembly shelving that is light, clean, and, ultimately, recyclable. The GreenFrame structural aluminum frames are designed to be used for workstations, carts, chutes, and flow racks. The goal is optimal adaptability for the factory floor. The aluminum frames contain mounting features that allow connectors to grip and securely fasten with a single bolt, offering a precise fit. SUS aims for a reduction in assembly time by up to 66%. SUS is using aluminum to replace steel piping at automakers, auto suppliers, and other industries, including electronics. “Traditional steel pipes are usually...

Prices for most grades of secondary aluminium smelters’ scrap fell on December 2, precipitated by lower demand from mills and weakening terminal markets, according to industry sources. Several sellers said they had seen reduced demand from most domestic consumers over the past week. “What I am being told is that a lot of consumers don’t want material,” one scrap seller said. “It’s the end of the year, they don’t want a lot of orders and terminal markets are hitting the skids. Demand is really slowing down right now.” The London Metal Exchange primary aluminium cash contract ended the official session on Tuesday December 3 at $1,695 per tonne, down 0.3% from $1,699.50 per tonne the previous day and off 2.2% from $1,734 per tonne on November 25. The contract is down 6.7% from $1,817.50 at...

Greg Stromberg, Founder of Toobee International, an all American toy manufacturer, has a mission and is counting on this Cyber Monday sale to help him save even more children’s lives in developing countries. The all-American Manufactured Made all aluminum 100% recyclable green toy called the Toobee, better known as an annular airfoil was developed by 2 aeronautical engineers over 40 years ago and believe it or not, it is still flying. This product is made from a virgin aluminum beverage can and aluminum end with the same precision engineering as a Boeing 737, except it costs a lot less, weighs a mere 7 grams and is much smaller. It does fly with the same aerodynamic (Bernoulli’s Law) principles. Greg Stromberg the owner of the Patented and copyrighted Toobee with its own TAF Toobee...

It is found just about everywhere and is commonly found in items that we as consumers use on a daily basis. We're talking about aluminium. Its strength, flexibility and exceptional lightness make it the perfect material for use in manufacturing of items where these features are necessary and of benefit to the end user. Mining aluminium is an expensive and intensive process, therefore recycling existing aluminium products is by far the preferable option. We are expected to reach a point where the mining of aluminium is no longer necessary and instead, there will be enough aluminium around to recycle only. The biggest benefit of aluminium is the fact that one can recycle aluminium over and over again, making it 100% recyclable. The majority of Right Stuff's products are constructed of or...

China’s secondary aluminum producers have seen falling profitability this year given slipping prices and rising production costs, as well as fiercer competition. China’s secondary aluminum output dropped 3% year-on-year to about 3.5 million tonnes during the first three quarters, latest data showed. Most secondary aluminum makers in China reported their costs at around 14,700 yuan per tonne, taking into account of recycling cost for scrap aluminum extrusion (12,000 yuan per tonne), the 15% loss during smelting, cost for energy consumption (600 yuan per tonne), and labor as well as transporting expenses. Meanwhile, prices for secondary aluminum dropped sharply during recent years due to overcapacity in China and global economic downturn, with ADC 12 aluminum alloy prices down from 2008’s...

ALCOHOL and soft-drink companies have been aggressively lobbying state MPs against a cash-for-cans scheme as NSW and Victoria consider joining forces to introduce their own joint recycling project. NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and other MPs confirmed the beverage industry – including Lion, Carlton & United Breweries and Coca-Cola Amatil – had ‘‘ramped up’’ their lobbying in recent months. See your ad here Carlton & United Breweries said it had been rattled by rumours NSW and Victoria would start a cash-for-cans recycling scheme. ‘‘There is a legitimate concern by all the supply side on a stand-alone NSW and Victorian deposit scheme,’’ CUB’s Jeremy Griffith said. ‘‘You’re going to fundamentally disrupt the market.’’ If such a scheme is implemented, consumers will be refunded 10¢ when they...