At the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) Conference & Exposition held this May in San Diego, panellists at the "Spotlight on Aluminum" session explored the emerging market for Vesper, newly introduced recycled grade aluminium. Developed in collaboration with Novelis Inc., a leading aluminium recycling and rolling company based in Atlanta, Vesper represents a significant step forward in advancing sustainable aluminium solutions.
Vesper consists of wrought aluminium materials, including sheet, extrusion, and/or plate grades that are carefully separated from zorba or twitch shredded aluminium streams. To meet the specification, the material must not contain more than 1 per cent free magnesium, 1 per cent free zinc, and 0.50 per cent analytical iron.
Gary Gallo, senior manager, end-of-life recycling, at Novelis, said, “by 2030, implied wrought alloy content in twitch will rise significantly as more aluminium-intensive vehicles reach end of life. Mixed aluminium makes it challenging for consumers like Novelis, producers like Novelis, to use that in the most fully circularized and optimized way. And what it points to is the need for segregation. And this is a path that Novelis started on about five years ago in earnest. There's only so much [recycled aluminium] out there.”
Additionally, nonmetallic content must not exceed 1 per cent. The material must also be free from heavily oxidized pieces, airbag canisters, and any sealed or pressurised items. As with all ReMA scrap specifications, any deviations from these criteria must be mutually agreed upon by both the buyer and seller.
The new Vesper grade is set to play a crucial role in meeting the skyrocketing demand for recycled aluminium. Gabriella Vagnini, managing editor of Aluminum Market Update at CRU Group and session moderator, highlighted that over $10 billion in investments for secondary aluminium production have already been announced.
She emphasized that to keep up with the soaring need for aluminium semifinished products, recycled metal consumption must surge by a staggering 40 percent by 2029 — underscoring the vital importance of innovations like Vesper in driving the industry forward.
Twitch is recycled, but it goes into secondary cast alloys, he said, “Once you take a hood from an F-150, and you shred it and you send it away to make, say, A380 [aluminium alloy] out of it, we can never get that scrap back,” Gallo continued. “The silicon content goes through the roof.”
Image Source: DeAnne Toto
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