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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The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) during their Convention & Exposition (ISRI2022) in late March found Greg Wittbecker, an advisor to London-based CRU International referring to the scarcity of primary aluminium worldwide and encouraging the growth of scrap recycle to fill in the demand cap. He also pointed out that there won’t be any hike in LME prices for an unforeseen amount of time due to these low carbon aluminium initiatives by major companies like Novelis and Alcoa Corp. Nivea is also shifting towards greener ways of producing their aerosol cans and aluminium packaging solutions to create a fully circular economy. With the focus on augmenting its refining capacity, Runaya Refining has placed an order for two additional SARAH hot dross processing units from Taha...
Tom Giddings, the executive director of Alupro, made it to Letsrecycle.com '35 under 35' list for 2022. The list, which features leaders of the future and celebrates their extraordinary experiences within the waste and resources business, aims to highlight the sector's emerging stars. The judges honoured Tom for his innovative approach to bringing about good change for the recycling of aluminium packaging. Tom is dedicated to creating a sustainable, resource-efficient future for the UK's packaging supply chain. He is a great champion of the circular economy. “Being named in the Letsrecycle.com ’35 under 35’ list for 2022 is a real honour. While my role as executive director of Alupro sees me represent one of the most dynamic industries in the UK, being recognised by my peers as a true...
In Grande Prairie, Alberta, Nespresso Canada has introduced its Green Bag recycling programme. Through collaboration with Aquatera Utilities Inc., Nespresso Club members who live in the City of Grande Prairie will now have access to this recycling solution. The first municipality in Alberta to use the Green Bag approach is Grande Prairie. Residents of Grande Prairie are now allowed to dispose of their spent aluminium Nespresso capsules by placing them in a recyclable green bag and setting it next to or on top of their blue bag at the curb. There will be a drop-off location in the city and a curbside collection. The bags are then delivered to a Nespresso recycling partner after being sent to the sorting centre. The capsules go through a mechanical process to separate the coffee grinds from...
Thailand has received its first AI-enabled reverse vending machine (RVM), ‘Circu-larOne’ from SUSTAINTECH, n eco-friendly tech start-up. This vending machine has been developed by Thai people and is controlled by the cloud business of global technology company Tencent. The RVM accepts PET or glass bottles and aluminium cans. The cloud codding by Tencent is responsible for CircularOne’s perfect operations, including accepting, sorting and preparing the bottles or aluminium cans for recycling. This technology will help induce a circular economy where used products can be returned via a portal for complete restoration. The Founder and CEO of SUSTAINTECH, Chirawat Tangkitchaiwat, quoted: “The world today is facing an air and natural resource crisis, a result of manufacturing, consuming and...
With an aim to increase its refining capacity, Runaya Refining has placed an order for two additional SARAH hot dross processing units from Taha International. The acquisition aims to strategise to employ cutting-edge technology in the manufacturing industry while also preserving the environment. The acquisition will also help the Indian aluminium industry to grow through valuable tie-ups between national and global industry leaders. Runaya Refining currently serves 67 per cent of India’s primary aluminium producers. Patrick Pollmann, Group CEO, TAHA International, appreciated the successful collaboration and said, “Runaya has shown great leadership by continuously adopting innovative solutions and fully committing to sustainability in the field of aluminium. They are making another...
Collaboration between Silicon Ranch Corp., a sizable independent power producer based in Nashville, Tennessee, and SOLARCYCLE, a tech-driven solar recycling platform, will recycle obsolete solar modules from Silicon Ranch projects using SOLARCYCLE's high-recovery recycling technology. The collaboration will provide a domestic supply of recycled materials, including aluminium, glass, silicon, and precious metals like silver and copper, which are necessary for the manufacture of new solar panels and will support the development of the U.S. solar manufacturing sector. Additionally, from the perspective of environmental protection, recycling solar panels lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacturing PV modules and minimises the discharge of dangerous materials from waste...
USA-based technology brand Ocean Insight has created a modular solution that can successfully sort light metal elements like aluminium and magnesium very quickly. This device, known as SpeedSorter, applies laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to rapidly recognise alloy configuration as pieces of scrap pass through the analytic belt of the sensor. Production of primary aluminium is extremely energy intensive, and it is laced with carbon emissions. This has prompted the bigger brands to incorporate recycled aluminium in their products, ultimately heightening the demand for sorting and recycling technologies. The production of secondary aluminium only uses 5 per cent of the energy used during primary aluminium production and can thus be termed ‘low-carbon aluminium’. Moreover, the...
Greg Wittbecker, an advisor to London-based CRU International, reported that aluminium experienced a "marked turnaround in primary demand" since scrap processors and traders gathered in Las Vegas for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) Convention & Exposition (ISRI2022) in late March. He further stated that primary aluminium witnessed massive a 2.2 million tonnes shortage, arguably the most significant deficit in its history. However, on September 16, at the ISRI Commodity Roundtables, Wittbecker stated that the market was now "more or less balanced", noting that consumption growth had been lowered downward in reaction to inflation. In July, CRU predicted that in 2022, consumption will expand by 1.5 per cent annually, which as of September got reduced to 0.9 per cent. The...
Nivea, the brand synonymous with the colour blue, is internally transforming itself into a green company with the heightened use of recyclable aluminium as a raw material for its packaging solutions. In the last two years, the company has seen immense transformations in their packaging formulas focusing more on the reduction of carbon footprint, which is also a first for a beauty brand. The parent concern of the company, Beiersdorf, based in Germany, is the main propagator of the Care Beyond Skin sustainability ideology that has three primary goals in mind; the Environment, Society and the Consumer. The Hamburg-headquartered master brand is very keen on creating a green circular economy and a climate-friendly future. Beiersdorf strictly notifies: “Humanity is facing a growing amount of...
According to the US Geological Survey, the United States exported 40,900 tonnes of aluminium scrap to India in June 2022, bringing the total amount of exports in the second quarter to 112,700 tonnes. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the scrap exports from the US to India in Q2 stood 242.66 per cent higher than 32,890 tonnes. The monthly exports increased each month in the second quarter, starting with a hike of 23,410 tonnes in April to 33,400 tonnes. In May, the exports grew by 5,000 tonnes or 13 per cent to 38,400 tonnes, followed by the increase of 2,500 tonnes in June. On a year-on-year calculation, the US aluminium scrap exports to India in June 2022 edged 36.65 per cent higher than 28,100 tonnes. In the first half of 2022, the US aluminium scrap exports to India amounted to 227,000...
Alutrade produced 99.9 per cent pure aluminium for secondary aluminium production using TOMRA's most advanced x-ray metals sorting apparatus, the X-TRACTTM. The UK-based aluminium recycling business used the powerful new sensor-based sorting system from TOMRA, X-TRACT, for the first time. The Hayleys Group subsidiary Alumex PLC, a pioneer in fully integrated aluminium manufacturing in Sri Lanka, announced the groundbreaking introduction of "Ozon," a low-carbon aluminium alloy. The news follows the manufacturer's successful Phase 1 opening of its brand-new, cutting-edge melting facility in Sapugaskanda to support export markets. According to the firm's CEO, Romco Metals planned to raise US$50 million in debt and equity to increase its output by more than five times to 100,000 tonnes...
By dissolving iron chloride and aluminium chloride in brines, researchers at the University of Leicester have created a brand-new technique for recovering aluminium and silver from discarded photovoltaic cells (PV cells) nearing the end of their useful lives. They claim that the inexpensive solvents may recover up to 95 per cent of the metals in just 10 minutes, producing silver chloride that is 98 per cent pure. The scientists tested the technology on crystalline solar cells that measured 12 x 15 cm, weighed 2 g, and were made of a 100 m thick silicon wafer that was coated with a 100 nm thick silicon nitride anti-reflective layer on the front side and a 20 m thick aluminium layer on the back side, both of which were stripped with silver electrodes that were about 30 m high. According to...
The world's leading metals and mining corporation, Rio Tinto, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Volvo Group to create a strategic partnership where the Anglo-Australian multinational company will supply responsibly sourced low-carbon products and solutions to Volvo Group. In order to reduce Rio Tinto's carbon footprint, Volvo Group's sustainable autonomous haulage solutions will be piloted. The multi-materials partnership will empower Rio Tinto to progress sustainability commitments in its operations and supply chains. However, it will support Volvo Group, one of the world's most significant transport and infrastructure providers, in its ambition toward a net-zero future. The partnership targets to secure supplies of materials, including low-carbon aluminium, lithium,...
Romco Metals has decided to raise US$50 million in debt and equity to enhance its output by more than five times to 100,000 tonnes annually, as was mentioned by the CEO of the company. Romco recycles scrap aluminium in Nigeria and Ghana and has advanced on a project that will generate green hydrogen for powering its furnaces. The CEO of the UK-based recycling plant assured that in the next five years, Romco would have seven new plants operating in Africa to meet escalating demand for aluminium. The enterprise has recently started recycling copper. The recycling plants of the company located in Ghana and Lagos utilise compressed natural gas to power furnaces producing a consolidated 18,000 tonnes of aluminium ingots each year. Romco founder and CEO Raymond Onovwigun commented: "We are...
Alutrade achieved 99 per cent pure aluminium for use in secondary aluminium production thanks to the X-TRACT™, TOMRA's most sophisticated x-ray metals sorting equipment. The UK-based aluminium recycling company became the first firm to benefit from X-TRACT, the advanced new sensor-based sorting technology from TOMRA. The X-TRACT™ was installed in March 2021 at Alutrade's Oldbury recycling facility in Birmingham, which handles 42,000 tonnes of garbage annually. Remelts located all over the world are among Alutrade's clients. They require the highest purity grade of aluminium product for their remelting process since any heavy metal presence impacts the melt parameters. The infeed material is first pre-shredded into smaller pieces of around one to two metres in length at Alutrade's Oldbury...
Alumex PLC, a subsidiary of Hayleys Group and a market leader in fully integrated aluminium manufacturing in Sri Lanka, announced the ground-breaking debut of low-carbon aluminium called 'Ozon'. The announcement comes immediately after the successful Phase 1 inauguration of the manufacturer's new state-of-the-art melting plant at Sapugaskanda to promote export markets. The second capacity-building phase will be carried out with an investment of over Rs. 1 billion. “Today Alumex takes a significant step on its sustainability roadmap. We formally commissioned the low-carbon aluminium plant in Sapugaskanda and launched Ozon. Alumex has already developed world-class capabilities in product design and manufacture in compliance with global aluminium quality specifications. Over the past two...
In the first quarter of 2022 (1Q2022), the United States imported a total of 85,200 tonnes of aluminium scrap from Canada, which surged by 17,200 tonnes or 20.18 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 (2Q2022). As per the USGS data, the total amount of aluminium scrap imported from Canada in 2Q2022 settled at 102,400 tonnes. According to the data, in 1Q2022, the amount of aluminium scrap imported by the United States from Canada reflected irregular changes. The USGS data stated that the United States imported 33,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap from Canada in March 2022, which registered M-o-M growth of 7,800 tonnes or 30.95 per cent from 25,200 tonnes in February. On the other hand, in February, a dip of 1,800 tonnes or 6.66 per cent was witnessed from 27,000 tonnes in January. In 2Q2022,...
The Wrexham-based Hydro aluminium recycling factory achieved another security milestone. The business had gone five years without an accident as of this week. This year, Norsk Hydro added £2.4 million to their Wrexham investment to boost production capacity to 70,000 tonnes. Apart from this, on Thursday, September 1, Hydro marked the groundbreaking ceremony for Hydro's future aluminium recycling facility in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. This new facility will improve Hydro's commitment to a greener future and strengthen its position as a worldwide leader in a sector where demand for more environmentally friendly aluminium is rising. Recycling aluminium is one of the main elements for a greener and emission-free environment. Focusing on this, Alupro, the organisation for recycling aluminium...
