Tom Giddings to present an economic viability graph of aluminium in this year’s UK Metals Expo

The executive director of Alupro, Tom Giddings, will be participating in two expert panel debates at the UK Metals Expo. The event will take place at the NEC in Birmingham from the 13th to the 14th of September and is expected to attract hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors.

The UK Metals Expo will bring together the metal supply chain in the UK as well as representatives from the engineering and manufacturing sectors. The event will feature a thriving exhibition, keynote speakers, and panel discussions that will focus on five key themes: supply chains, innovation, skills, the circular economy, and resources.

On 'Day Two' of the event, Giddings will be talking about the importance of metal as a critical material to ensure sustainability in the food packaging industry. The panel, titled "Resource not waste: How metal packaging is a model material for the circular economy," will take place in the Made in the UK theatre at midday. Some other enlisted panellists are associates from Tata Steel UK, Envases Europe A/S, and MPMA.

At 1:30 pm, Giddings will be participating in a session with speakers from ALFED, BACALL, Innovate UK KTN, and Innoval Technology to delve into the topic "Unlocking the Economic Viability of Recycled Aluminium in Manufacturing." The session will circle around the rising consumer consciousness regarding reuse and recycling, the effects of packaging recycling reforms such as deposit return schemes, and their implications for the broader supply chain.

Tom Giddings narrated: "In just a few short years, the UK Metals Expo has quickly become a significant event in the engineering, manufacturing and metal supply chain calendar. As part of two-panel discussions, I'm fortunate enough to be exploring the industry's latest developments and insights across a range of topics."

"With the ambition of accelerating the UK's progress towards a 100% recycling rate for aluminium packaging, celebrating its circular benefits and promoting its widespread applications in front of the wide supply chain is hugely important. I'm looking forward to sparking debate around the opportunities and challenges facing the industry," he added.

Sustainability is at the helm of the aluminium industry now, owing to the worldwide call to achieve Net Zero, as agreed upon during the Paris Agreement of 2015. Recycling aluminium packages is not that simple because of the extravagant collection and sorting processes. AL Circle has created a specially edited report to cite the sustainable advancements in the aluminium world. If the entire concept interests you, please have a look at our report, Sustainability in the Global Aluminium Industry.