
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...
Europe’s aluminium scrap exports to the US have risen by 243 per cent, highlighting a growing concern over the continent’s access to strategic raw materials as it pursues recycling, decarbonisation and industrial competitiveness. Evangelos Mytilineos, Executive Chairman of METLEN, raised the issue, linking scrap outflows to the broader challenges facing European industry, energy security and strategic autonomy. Aluminium scrap outflows raise industrial concerns Mytilineos referred to the contrasting US tariff treatment of aluminium products, i.e., a 50 per cent tariff on primary aluminium, compared with zero tariff on scrap . With European aluminium scrap exports to the US increasing by 243 per cent, he questioned whether Europe could strengthen its industrial base while allowing valuable...
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Primary aluminium production is highly energy intensive, and gradually, the global aluminium industry is focusing on decarbonization to make the industry more sustainable for the future. The decarbonization factor would require huge investments and time, but the shift is ongoing. Several manufacturers are sourcing scrap to manufacture aluminium to join the race of decarbonization. The global aluminium industry witnessed a few crucial events this week, a step towards a green economy. The voice of the aluminium industry in Europe, European Aluminium's Senior Manager of Regulatory Affairs – Circular Economy & Raw Materials, George Karkampasis stated, "It is hard to escape the reality that over the last two decades Europe has bounced from one crisis to the next." To know more:...

To be held in Vienna from 16-17 November, the World Demolition Summit 2022 will honour specific demolition experts of the world with the highest title and Delta Group, along with CMA Contracting, are competing this year for the glorious position. The 2022 World Demolition Awards will only consider the entries with the least recorded work discrepancies and accidents. While Delta Group is being considered for the demolition contract it successfully accomplished at the Hazelwood mine and power station, CMA Contracting is being considered for its extraordinary handling of Hydro Aluminium Kurri Kurri. After a successful demolition, the steel bars or aluminium components extracted usually find their way to integrated recycling centres. Recycling plays an important role when it comes to the...

The voice of the aluminium industry in Europe, European Aluminium's Senior Manager of Regulatory Affairs – Circular Economy & Raw Materials, George Karkampasis stated, "It is hard to escape the reality that over the last two decades Europe has bounced from one crisis to the next." “To avoid another raw materials crisis, we need to learn the lessons from the current Ukraine-Russia geopolitical conflict and act on the warning signs.” The European aluminium industry has been balancing two parallel realities for several years. First, the metal aluminium has become increasingly significant to the EU’s green and digital transitions. According to a recent study, European aluminium demand for clean technologies will increase from 14 million tonnes in 2020 to 21 million tonnes in 2050, driven...

Malta, a small Mediterranean island between Sicily and the North African coast, has recently seen an environmental drive where the specific emphasis was laid to increase the collection of single-use glass, plastic or aluminium beverage cans and containers. On Monday, November 14, the Beverage Container Refund Scheme (BCRS) first began its operations, and on that very day, almost 50,000 containers were accumulated. The rules pertaining to the Beverage Container Refund Scheme were first introduced in 2020 but initially restricted to plastic packaging as the European Union directive notified. The proper implementation of this noble programme took more than two years, after which a conglomeration of Malta's largest beverage distributors and exporters, officially known as BCRS, began...

A community initiative to gather aluminium cans in the West Newton-Yukon-Collinsburg region can be regarded as the most helpful programme since the conductors will arrange a free Thanksgiving dinner in Jeannette this week. The dinner will be presented in exchange for all the aluminium cans collected and sold. A non-profit organisation, Operation Pick-Up Cans, would utilise the accumulations after selling the aluminium cans to provide a hearty meal for the community. Operation Pick-Up Cans also acts as a patron in other goodwill projects around the globe. An ex-employee of Elliott Co. worker who is now president of Operation Pick-Up Cans, Joseph Muscenti, stated: “I look at it as a way of helping people in need.” Joseph Muscenti more famously known as ‘Jo-Can’ also claims that the...

Fairview has declared that its leading Ecoloop recycling facility has bagged the Product Stewardship Award for Best Stewardship Outcomes after being selected by an SME business. This current Stewardship title further establishes Ecoloop’s identity as a successful recycling and reinstating unit for combustible aluminium cladding extracted from risky facade systems. This award also emphasises Fairview’s position as a propagator of recycling building materials and other auxiliary safety practices. The Product Stewardship Excellence Awards is conducted by the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence with support from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The award felicitates industry-related stewardship achievements, mainly in the emissions and sustainability...

On November 11, the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) achieved fulfillment with their “Can Collection Drive” having the tagline “Cancel the Linear, Enable the Circular”. EEG was, fortunately, able to collect a glorious 11,987 kg of aluminium cans with the sole purpose of recycling them. Since the origin of this environmental drive, EEG has successfully collected 375,862 kg of aluminium cans discarding almost 5,642 MTCO2e generated, safeguarding 9,124 m3 of landfill space and conserving 85,541 million BTU of energy. The Co-Founder and Chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group, Mrs Habiba Al Mar’ashi, exemplified: “Protecting and preserving natural resources in the UAE is vital, and EEG has designed a cluster of community-based action programmes and campaigns, such as the Can Collection...

According to a leading sector expert, the UK's aluminium industry has a 'once in a generation' opportunity to drive sustainability, the circular economy, and the transition to Net Zero. Tom Jones, the CEO of the Aluminium Federation (ALFED), made the rallying call after the release of the organisation's latest report reveals more than 39,000 people are directly employed in this manufacturing discipline, with a total GVA of nearly £3 billion. Undertaken in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute, the document uses an economic model that predicts the sector’s real value is closer to £7.4 billion and supports the employment of 104,000 full-time jobs when considering the indirect impact of this unique material. The former toolmaking apprentice, who spent 35 years working at several...

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS) data, India imported 46,100 tonnes of aluminium scrap from the United States in August 2022. That reflected an increase of 5,200 tonnes or 11.28 per cent sequentially, following restraint in the previous month at 40,900 tonnes. In June, India’s aluminium scrap import volume from the US grew 6.50 per cent or 2,500 tonnes M-o-M from 38,400 tonnes. On a year-on-year calculation, India’s aluminium scrap imports from the US edged 800 tonnes higher than 45,300 tonnes, found USGS. From January to August 2022, India imported 314,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap from the US in total, 26.61 per cent more than 248,000 tonnes during the corresponding period of the last year. In August 2022, the United States exported 178,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap...

Stemin S.p.A., an Italian aluminium recycling expert and a pioneer in producing secondary aluminium alloys, achieved the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard V2 (2017) Certification at its recycling and remelting facility in the Italian region of Bergamo. A total of 70,000 tonnes of semi-finished aluminium products are generated each year from the 120,000 tonnes of scrap metal that is processed. “Obtaining the prestigious ASI certification, for a relatively young company in the sector like ours, denotes how correctly our vision has always been directed and how much our work is oriented towards sustainability in every aspect. Our products, made primarily from secondary material, ensure low CO₂ emissions, contributing to increased value and responsibility over the...

On Friday, November 4, a trial programme for the long-delayed Scottish Deposit Return Scheme was introduced in Orkney, giving islanders a chance to assist their community charities while preserving the environment. The initiative witnessed the installation of two reverse vending machines (RVM) at the Kirkwall location of Employability Orkney on Junction Road, which will sort, store and recyclable beverage containers like aluminium, plastic, and glass. On Friday, Lorna Slater, minister for the circular economy, visited Orkney to formally introduce Return & Recycle Orkney. Orkney is an archipelago off the northeastern coast of Scotland. Once the programme is implemented throughout Scotland, an additional £0.20 will be charged for goods sold in plastic, aluminium, or glass containers,...

Novelis Incorporation, the world’s largest aluminium recycler and flat-rolled producer, broke ground on November 6 on a new $50 million recycling centre in South Korea. The project will be able to produce 100 thousand tonnes of low-carbon sheet ingot annually by recycling aluminium, resulting in reducing Novelis’ carbon emissions by more than 420,000 tonnes each year. "As the world leader in sustainable, low-carbon rolled aluminum solutions, we are focused on accelerating the transition of the aluminum industry to a circular economy model through the increased use of recycled content in our products," said Sachin Satpute, President of Novelis Asia. "Doing so will reduce our carbon footprint – as well as that of our customers and industry as a whole – and lead us closer to realizing our...

Kuusakoski, one of the leading industrial recyclers known for processing waste materials on an industrial scale with years of experience and expertise, is planning to complete its €7 million processing facility for materials comprising aluminium and copper in Heinola, Finland. This is a part of the multi-year investment programme, which seeks to boost material yield, offer cleaner finished goods, and improve capacity using recycled raw materials. The development project will be combined with the recycling facility owned by Kuusakoski in Heinola. The infrastructure building and the property's renovations got underway last spring and are expected to be operational by March 2023. "Our new copper centre is unique in Finland. With this investment, we are able to serve our customers more...

Chichester District Council has marked a 1 million milestone in recycling aluminium coffee capsules during the first year of the council's initiative to gather used aluminium or plastic pods through a free kerbside collection portal. The trial began in July 2021 after the Chichester District Council collaborated with Podback, a joint venture by Nestle and Jacobs Douwe Egberts . The Podback scheme has been initiated all over the UK to safely steward used aluminium coffee pods ready for recycling. The Chichester District Council trail encompasses around 75 per cent of the residential complexes in the area. The scheme focuses on the smooth transition of aluminium coffee pods from home to the kerbside collection joints and, ultimately, to the recycling units. Unlike other materials, aluminium...

Recycling is proven to be more of a need than a cause for concern in the socioeconomic climate of today when the world is buzzing with issues like a growing global population, rising carbon emissions, rising energy expenses, and a scarcity of feedstock. The Henan province's secondary aluminium-producing business was severely hit by the Covid pandemic's reappearance throughout China. An SMM study found that the pandemic typically impacted the production and shipping of secondary aluminium facilities in the neighbourhood. To transform its old motorcycles into fashionable jewellery, Bolt worked with famous Estonian designer Tanel Veenre. The award-winning designer has created the "Hardwear collection," which includes approximately 100 individually made bracelets, earrings, and pendants. The...

This year’s Environmental Packaging Summit will host the executive director of Alupro, Tom Giddings as a speaker. During the event, from 2-3 November, Giddings would lend his opinion on how to build a successful deposit return scheme (DRS) in the UK. As part of the panel, Giddings will present his ideologies on how, if formulated and administered properly, a DRS in the UK could benefit the recycling rates of aluminium packages. The related event, ‘Recyclable: Recycled – A changing ratio?’ will commence at 1.45 pm in the main hall. The event has been scheduled to take place in the Coventry Building Society Arena, where well-established businesses would be present from around the packaging sector to converse about the difficulties in the supply chain. The Environmental Packaging Summit has...

Hong Kong-based designer Charlotte Wong Ka-man has revolutionised the use of recycled aluminium by incorporating them in making Wind.n.Sand’s flagship sustainable jewellery. The eco-friendly accessories brand upcycles around 500 used aluminium coffee pods each month to produce key chains, hair-tie charms and earrings. Charlotte Wong Ka-man is a 25-year-old student at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital School of General Nursing. It is quite astonishing how this young woman contributes to creating a better ecosystem. Tough, according to her, the number of aluminium coffee pods the company can successfully recycle is “only a drop in the bucket”, and she hopes to change that for good in the upcoming days. Modernisation has blessed us with smart technologies that allow us to have a perfectly brewed...

Bolt has collaborated with Tanel Veenre, a renowned Estonian designer, to remodel its retired scooters into fashion jewellery. With his indomitable expertise, the award-winning designer has put together the "Hardwear collection" that features almost 100 hand-crafted bracelets, earrings and pendants. The aircraft-grade aluminium used in 230,000 Bolt scooters would be very skilfully transformed to create these lightweight, durable and shiny pieces of art. Aluminium is infinitely recyclable, and this has instigated many big players to transform their base raw material into the same. The designer has to remove the green paint from Bolt scooter bodies before beginning his fundamental activity of reshaping the metal. Tanel, to lend a personal touch, then goes on to anodize and paint the...