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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Studio Swine puts waste aluminium to use in São Paulo with their project Can City. Alexander Groves, who set up Studio Swine with Azusa Murakami, says, “Can City was looking into the way waste is collected and recycled in São Paulo. It is the capital of aluminium, recycling more aluminium than anywhere else in the world. They go from drinks cans to recycling and back into drinks cans in 30 days so it is really efficient.” 80% of these aluminium cans are collected by catadores (rubbish collectors) who roam the streets with carts piling up the waste and selling it on for very little money. Studio Swine has been exploring ways of making more from this waste. Smelting on the streets They came up with the concept of a carbon neutral, mobile foundry that could be taken onto the streets to smelt...
German manufacturers Siemens, unveiled their concept for how the next tube in the future might look. The Inspiro train, which could potentially be manufactured in Britain, weighs a third less than most trains running in the UK today. Following on from the Inspiro that was launched two years ago for Warsaw Metro, the train is built using lightweight aluminium sections to reduce weight. With a high recycling rate of 95%, the cork aluminium floor is also 30% lighter. The driverless train is being exhibited at the Crystal exhibition centre until January 2014.
A number of new recycling boxes are to be put in place across London and the south east to help businesses recycle more aluminium and steel cans. It has been reported that the drinks can recycling programme, Every Can Counts, has teamed up with waste management company, Greenaway Waste Management, to promote out of home drinks can recycling, and that the new collection points, provided by Every Can Counts, will be offered free of charge to Greenaway's business customers, along with relevant marketing materials. Commenting, Rick Hindley, Executive Director at Aulpro, one of the partners in the Every Can Counts scheme, said: "We're trying to make recycling as accessible as possible when out and about, and this partnership will go a long way in helping local businesses to recycle their...
The European Non-Ferrous and Ferrous Metals industry is selected for developing and testing product environmental footprint category rules for metal sheets. The experts in life cycle assessment and sustainability from the aluminium, copper, lead, steel and mining sectors is now looking forward to fruitful cooperation with the Commission and stakeholders. The European Non-Ferrous and Ferrous Metals industries support an integrated life cycle approach, taking account of the whole life cycle of products, including the use phase and end-of-life recycling. The industries look forward to contributing to the development of a robust methodological approach that considers the specificities of metals and their unique recyclability credentials. The use of an appropriate methodology with practical...
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) joins in the nationwide celebration of National Manufacturing Day by highlighting the many positive economic contributions of the industry to the U.S. manufacturing landscape. Each year, more than 135 million metric tons of metal, paper, plastic, glass, textiles, rubber, and electronics are manufactured in specification grade commodities by the U.S. scrap recycling industry. “On National Manufacturing Day we recognize the many valuable contributions the sector makes to the American economy, and its potential for new innovations and job creation in the future,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “As the first link in the manufacturing supply chain, the recycling industry has been a leader in the U.S. economy, job creation, resource...
Aluminium scrap prices in Europe stayed flat on Friday October 4 even after falling in the UK market over the past two weeks, and secondary aluminium producer margins remain under pressure. “There have been some small reductions in scrap prices but nothing significant,” a producer said. UK scrap prices have fallen over the last two weeks as unfavourable exchange rate movements have rendered most non-European export markets uncompetitive. Weakness in India’s rupee and the US dollar in particular has savaged export rates. But on the continent, prices have remained stable as both supply and demand have flattened. “Scrap continues to be very strong compared to London Metal Exchange prices,” a second producer said. “There has been no drop in scrap prices.” Ingot prices were also stable on...
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) commended California Governor Jerry Brown for recognizing the need for more enforcement of the state’s current metals theft laws before additional laws that could harm the industry are added to the books. While vetoing California Assembly Bill 841, Governor Brown issued the following statement, “The theft of nonferrous metals has reached epidemic proportions not only in California, but across the United States. In an effort to combat this problem, I signed four bills last year to prevent more theft. Existing law requires that a seller wait three days before receiving payment for metal materials, a written record of the transaction, the name, driver's license number, license plate number, thumbprint of the seller, and a photograph or video...
The European Aluminium Association (EAA) has appointed Magdalena Garczynska as the Director of its new Recycling Department. This new position will strengthen the expertise of EAA on an industry segment that is a cornerstone of the aluminium industry’s sustainability. ?“The appointment of Magdalena comes at a crucial time as the EU starts to revise its waste legislation. Being a recycling champion, the aluminium industry has a significant role to play in this revision,” EAA’s Director General Gerd Götz stated. “We want the future waste legislation to contribute to secure access to secondary raw materials for the recycling industry and to unlock the recycling potential of our industry. I am delighted that Magdalena accepted this challenge." ??Magdalena Garczynska underlined: “I am pleased...
UK aluminium scrap prices are under significant downward pressure as unfavourable exchange rate movements have rendered most non-European export markets uncompetitive, while low London Metal Exchange prices continue to provide further impetus on the downside. “The LME continues to drift, and the dollar rate has gotten worse,” a scrap dealer said. “Sellers are at the point now where they have to sell, so there is more scrap available in the UK market.” As availability has increased, demand has fallen away, further pressuring prices. “The phones are just not ringing,” the scrap dealer said. Metal Bulletin’s aluminium scrap prices fell across the board last week, and several grades slipped further on Wednesday October 2. Commercial pure cuttings fell to £980-1,030 ($1,590-1,670) per tonne...
Sue Knaup of One Street, a US bicycle advocacy org, has created a robust shift lever & is seeking $10,000 on Kickstarter Sue Knaup, executive director of bicycle advocacy organisation One Street of Arizona, is seeking crowdfunding support on Kickstarter.com for her robust, repairable shift lever. A former bike shop owner, Knaup said: "I designed this bicycle shift lever after countless complaints from our partner organisations in all parts of the world. Programs that provide bicycles to people who need them for transportation, hauling goods and carrying their children can no longer find shift levers that hold up to hard use. They can choose from ridiculously complex and expensive shifters that are usually integrated with the brake lever or cheap shifters made of plastic and pot metal....
The Aluminium Packaging and Recycling Organisation (Alupro) will be using this year’s RWM show to promote the campaigns and programmes it runs on behalf of its members to promote the recycling of aluminium and all metal packaging. Visitors to the show are invited to drop by the Alupro stand, which can be found in The Materials Village, to learn about the activity it undertakes to support local authorities, waste management companies and community enterprises, helping them to realise the value of the aluminium packaging in the waste stream. Local authorities, in particular, are being encouraged to visit the stand and discover how they can partner Alupro on its new ‘Caps and Closures’ campaign that is designed to improve aluminium recycling rates by educating households to leave the metal...
Between R100-million and R200-million a year will flow into the scrap metals and recycling industry as a result of the conversion from tin-plated steel cans to aluminium cans, providing an additional 2 000 to 3 000 people a source of income from collecting and selling used cans, estimates South Africa’s sole beverage can manufacturer Nampak Bevcan. “The value of used aluminium cans is much higher than that of tin-plated steel cans. The conversion will, therefore, be a more economically viable option for informal can collectors to earn a living or supplement a low income, which will ultimately result in an increase in recycling volumes,” says can recycling and recovery initiative Collect-a-Can public relations and marketing manager Zimasa Velaphi. Currently, the recycling rate of all...
The 21st International Recycled Aluminium Conference is setting out to better the aluminium industry’s understanding of recycling by highlighting sustainable development, says Rio Tinto, product group Rio Tinto Alcan product stewardship director Jerome Lucaes. The conference from November 3 to 5 at Shangri La Hotel, in Dubai, is relevant for “aluminium end-users that want to innovate and improve their recycling efficiencies to reduce carbon dioxide impact and cost”, performance enhancing technical products, integrated processing systems and consulting services provider Pyrotek sales director Richard Starczewski adds. Globally, the aluminium recycling business continues to grow as more and more of the metal is consumed in packaging, transport, construction and other applications, such as...
Secondary aluminium alloy prices remained relatively steady over the past week, although a number of market participants said they had heard rumors of sellers beginning to give in to downward price pressure. “The automotive guys are still running hard despite prices being relatively stagnant over the past months,” one seller of A380.1 told Metal Bulletin sister title AMM. “Why people would be lowering [the] price on A380 is beyond me, because the scrap picture hasn’t changed.” Consumers have been “aggressively testing the low end of the market,” a second seller said, pegging quotes as low as $1 per pound. “We have not given in to that type of price pressure [...] It just doesn’t make sense for us to have to go that low.” A third seller noted that doing deals below $1.01 per pound is a...
The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) is looking for a number of new local authorities to partner with and take advantage of its package of free support to educate households and promote the importance of recycling aluminium caps and closures. The ‘Leave Your Cap On’ communications campaign was launched by Alupro in July 2013 and forms an important part of the work Alupro does to promote the recycling of all aluminium packaging. In particular, Alupro is looking for one or more local authority that may wish to develop the campaign as part of its kerbside recycling scheme. The ‘Leave your cap on’ campaign has been developed by Alupro in partnership with British Glass in order to highlight the importance of recycling aluminium closures such as those used on wine and sprit...
Prices in Brazil for aluminium scrap have risen sharply this month compared with August and are also up on the same period last year, according to a survey released by the Brazilian aluminium association, Abal. The most expensive class of secondary aluminium items in Brazil – scrap profile cuttings, unpainted and without contaminants (iron, oil, grease and rivets) – ended the second week of September at 4,750 Reais ($2,163) per tonne, up 6.5% month-on-month and 16.1% higher year-on-year, according to Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), which carried out the survey for Abal. “We hope prices do not increase anymore, as it is a very disruptive situation for the market,” a scrap dealer told Metal Bulletin. “The [movement in the] dollar and the LME price, which saw a slight drop recently, would...
Aluminium scrap tightness in Europe is forcing rolling mills and extruders to source more units from primary metal for their plants. “Scrap availability is at a critical level across central Europe too: southern Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary,” one large buyer of aluminium units said. “Now we are forced to use more primary, not because of the calculation [of whether using primary is more economical than using scrap], but because there is no scrap,” the buyer said. Scrap availability has fallen as a result of low aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange and lower overall scrap generation in Europe, market sources said. “If you are normally using scrap, and you can’t get scrap, you have to turn to prime P1020,” a source at one large rolling company said. But the restriction on...
A new recycling campaign will make it easy for pet lovers living throughout the greater Evansville area to aid shelter animals through responsible recycling. CANS FOR PETS – an initiative sponsored by the Alcoa Foundation to increase the number of aluminum pet food cans recycled--is underway. “Cans for Pets is a simple concept, but it’s definitely a win-win for everyone involved,” according to Alcoa’s Director of Corporate Communications, Kevin Lowery. “Dogs and cats get to enjoy their favorite meals, pet lovers get a chance to keep empty aluminum pet food cans out of local landfills, and the Vanderburgh Humane Society receives a nickel for every aluminum pet food can collected as part of this project.” The pilot of this extremely successful recycling campaign launched in November 2012 in...
