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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Zero Waste Scotland and Every Can Counts are funding a new six-month trial, which is taking five places and is part of Zero Waste Scotland’s work to ensure valuable materials can be recycled. From 1st January 2014, businesses in Scotland will be required to separate all of their waste – including metals – for recycling. Every Can Counts has been working with businesses to help them work towards compliance, and now and the programme has joined forces with Zero Waste Scotland to trial the initiative to help make it easier for people to recycle their drinks cans 'on the go'. New can crushers are designed to crush and hold up to 700 aluminium and steel drinks cans at a time – five times more than a conventional recycling container. Operated by people-power rather than electricity, the compact...
Fort Myers police are searching for the suspects who broke into Garden Street Recycling early Friday morning. Police say the suspects entered the Metro Parkway compound and removed a white 53-foot trailer containing 38 bales of aluminum and two green steel boxes. The green containers are 72-inches wide and 48-inches front to back, weighing 1,100 lbs. each. The total weight of the load is 45,066 pounds. The stolen trailer had a Florida tag of 5867CG. The trailer also has 24 x 36 decals with the name “Garden Street Iron & Metal,” approximately 15 feet from the front of the trailer. The trailer has “V531” in black lettering across the front, near the top. Video surveillance from the business shows a small, possibly tan SUV stop at the front gate. A suspect opens the gate and a red or...
The rate at which the U.S. recycled aluminum cans in 2012 hit a 20-year high, reflecting metal companies' stepped-up efforts in recent years to procure and process scrap. The U.S. recycled 62 billion cans, equivalent to 67% of the 92 billion cans produced that year, according to a report released Thursday by a consortium of industry groups. The U.S. rate, while rising, still trails that of countries like Brazil and parts of Western Europe. How used aluminum cans go from households' recycling bins to shiny new six-packs on supermarket shelves involves a complex supply chain. Waste-management companies collect recyclable material from consumers. Big aluminum companies, such as Alcoa Inc. and Novelis Inc., buy the scrap, melt it and roll it into sheets. Different firms transform those sheets...
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), the Voice of the Recycling Industry, today released a call for entries for the 2014 Design for Recycling® (DFR) Award. The DFR Award is ISRI’s highest award given annually to the most outstanding contribution to products designed with recycling in mind. It recognizes proactive steps made by manufacturers who have actively incorporated DFR principles into products and processes. “When designing a product, manufacturers should be giving just as much of a priority to its ability to be recycled as they do cost, appearance, and other factors,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “Effective recycling begins at the drawing board. ISRI is looking to reward companies, designers, and manufacturers with the mindset of producing products that can...
A fire at Aleris Aluminum Recycling was quickly extinguished due to the quick work of employees and the Elyria Fire Department, said Aleris spokeswoman Shannon Bennett. The fire, which began in a processing oven, was reported at 11:51 a.m. Wednesday. Firefighters arrived about four minutes later, and the fire was under control within 10 minutes, Elyria Assistant Fire Chief Ron Brlas said. Bennett said the damage was relatively minor and operations resumed at the plant later that afternoon. “The Aleris team followed all protocols, and the firefighters arrived promptly,” she said. Brlas said the fire’s cause is under investigation by Aleris, but the fire started in an oven used for processing of aluminum metal shavings in the southwest portion of the plant. No one was injured, and employees...
UK secondary aluminium prices were broadly stable on Wednesday October 23, while scrap moved into balance after dealers started offering more material to the market last week. LM6/LM25 gravity diecasting ingot edged down to £1,700-1,740 ($2,748-2,813) per tonne from £1,710-1,750 previously, but all other ingot and scrap prices stayed flat. “The market has stabilised and people have got to grips with the amount of supply coming in,” a trader said. “It’s more manageable. Two weeks ago scrap was tight and demand was worse, but the market is more fluid now.” Ingot producers reported fewer phone calls from scrap suppliers this week, after dealers in the UK started offering material last week that they had been holding back in the hope of pushing up prices. “Scrap has gone a bit quiet, and not...
Industry recycling of aluminum beverage containers in the United States continued its decade-long upward trend in 2012 with a rate of 67%, 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% 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. “It’s great news to...
Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today announced significant progress in its commitment toward reducing its carbon footprint and delivering on key measures of sustainable business performance. The company published "Sustainability Through Disruptive Innovation," the company's third annual sustainability report, which details recent milestones including an increase in the recycled content of its products from 33 percent to 43 percent in the first two years since announcing its ambitious target to achieve 80 percent recycled content by 2020. Novelis also became the world's largest recycler of aluminum this year as it continues to expand its recycling capacity around the world. "Our intent when we established our sustainability targets two years ago was to...
Toyota Zambia has given aluminium scraps to Chazanga Aluminium Recycling Entrepreneurs (CRE) through the National Technology Business Council (NTBC). The firm at the weekend handed over the aluminium scrap worth K375, 000, which will go towards the project that was formed out of the International Design Development Summit (IDDS) which was held in Lusaka recently. Some residents of Chazanga have been recycling aluminium scrap and then manufacture pots and other metal products, which they sale to earn income. Speaking during the handover ceremony, Toyota Zambia corporate affairs manager Gilbert Mfuya said the commitment and innovation by the residents on the project prompted the donation. Mr Mfuya said Toyota wanted to see how the company could partner with organisations like NTBC to...
Communications are a fundamental part of a waste and recycling service for councils, according to Louise Bowe, head of community partnerships at WRAP(Watford Recycling Arts Project). The comments came in a presentation on behaviour change at the LARAC Conference and Awards, which took place in Nottingham last week (October 17). The session also saw presentations by Diana Caldwell, marketing and communications manager at the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) and David Hall, executive director of Behaviour Change. Speaking to the local authority recycling officers, Ms Bowe said achieving high quality and quantities of recycling will not happen unless effective communications are in place to back it up. She said: “It [communications] really is fundamental. It is not just a...
US aluminum sheet maker Novelis remains on track to reach 80% recycled content by 2020 despite a persistently tight scrap scenario, Marco Palmieri, president of Novelis North America, said in an interview late Wednesday. Palmieri, formerly president of Novelis South America, was named as head of North America in May. "Things are going extremely well," he said of Novelis' recycling targets. Novelis' recycled content reached 39% in fiscal 2012 ended in March and 43% in fiscal 2013. The target for fiscal 2015 is 50% and fiscal 2020 is 80%. "We know what we have to do in terms of capital. We need to develop new technology so we can process some scrap that we don't process now," he said, noting that "we know we won't get to 80% with just UBCs. The key is processing other scrap." Palmieri said...
Latest figures from industry recycling programme, MetalMatters, show that it has successfully delivered sustained increases in the volumes of metal packaging collected at the kerbside long after the initial communications campaign intervention period. Analysis of recycling collections by two of the local authorities that ran campaigns during 2012 show capture rates have continued to rise steadily during 2013, providing lasting return on investment. One year after the programme finished, Sefton Council’s metal capture rates have continued to rise by 16%. The additional revenue derived from the increased tonnage of valuable metal packaging collected covered the campaign costs in just three months, generating additional revenue stream to plough back into the area. Figures show that 63% of...
Swansea Council has made £1 million from selling its recycling. An answer to a question put to cabinet members ahead of council meeting next week revealed that the authority recycled nearly 6,000 tonnes of glass, over 7,500 tonnes of paper, and more than 1,100 tonnes of scrap metal and aluminium cans in 2012/13. In addition the council also recycled more than 40 tonnes of engine and cooking oils. And June Burtonshaw, the council's cabinet member for place, said that the income from selling the recycled material earned the authority more than £1 million. Mrs Burtonshaw was responding to a question from opposition councillors. The cabinet member said: "The oils are recycled at nil cost, however the other materials generate an income for the council. "Although the individual material market...
European secondary aluminium ingot prices stayed flat on Friday October 18, with activity slowing ahead of negotiations over 2014 supply contracts. “It’s still a little early to sign 2014 contracts, but that will happen in the next two or three weeks,” a producer in north Europe said. DIN226 pressure diecasting ingot remained at €1,770-1,820 per tonne. Demand is strong, with some producers unable to offer nearby spot tonnages because their operations are all given over to fulfilling contract obligations. Demand has also been boosted by the insolvency of German ingot producer Oetinger. While German insolvency law has ensured that the company has remained in operation, the closure of its Berlin and Hanover plants has left a gap in the market that other producers are filling. “Some of...
Large scrap dealers in the UK have started offering material to customers that they had been holding back in the hope of pushing up prices, sources said on Wednesday October 16. “Some people have been sitting on scrap, and it’s slowly but surely hitting them that it will get worse before it gets better,” a secondary aluminium ingot producer said. “We’re not struggling to find the material we need every week.” UK scrap prices fell at the end of September and early this month, as unfavourable exchange-rate movements rendered most non-European export markets uncompetitive and low London Metal Exchange prices brought further pressure. Those scrap dealers large enough to stomach it stopped selling scrap metal in hopes of higher prices to come, but with no indication of improvements in either...
Many secondary aluminium producers in China’s Hebei province have been ordered to shut after the government issued air pollution control initiatives scheme in September, Shanghai Metals Market has learned. Small-to-medium producers of cast aluminium alloy in Baoding city and Tianjin municipality, with a total estimated capacity of 150,000 tpy, were ordered to close down, according to SMM’s aluminum analyst Eric Zhang. Big ones including Hebei Lizhong Group and Hebei Century Longda have been unaffected. China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and five other ministries jointly issued air pollution control initiatives scheme on September 18, aiming at improving air quality in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan circle, Inner Mongolia region, Shanxi and Shandong provinces. Beijing...
Aluminium remelters that have curtailed capacity due to razor-thin margins are on the brink of bringing that capacity back into operation, and whether they do so will have a strong impact on aluminium supply and premiums next year. “When we analyse the supply side, we see significant remelting capacity still idle,” a downstream aluminium producer said. The producer added that there will not be large volumes of aluminium imports into Europe in 2014, and so the decision on the part of the curtailed remelt capacity will have a significant impact on primary aluminium supply, and therefore premiums as well. “I don’t think the imports will come. The market premiums will be set by the remelters,” the producer said. In June, primary metal buying costs made up almost 89% of those of aluminium...
Leading aluminum recycler, Novelis, is celebrating the opening of a $200-million auto finishing line expansion to its aluminum rolling operations in Oswego, N.Y. On October 24, 2013, the facility will open to meet a growing demand from the automotive industry for lighter, more sustainable materials, says Novelis. According to the company, the Oswego plant currently recycles approximately eight billion used beverage cans per year. It will play a key role in Novelis’ closed-loop recycling model for the automotive industry, whereby automotive aluminum scrap can be re-melted and rolled into new aluminum automotive sheet. Novelis says that recycling aluminum requires 95 per cent less energy, and produces 95 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than manufacturing primary aluminum. Novelis...
