Closed Loops for an Optimal Evaluation of Environmental Performance
Aluminium’s intrinsic material value means that it has always been worthwhile returning the material to the loop that comprises metal extraction, processing, use and recovery. There is no deterioration in quality when aluminium is recycled. New profiles or other high-value products can be made from scrap profiles and new rolled products can be made from used aluminium sheet and foil. The amount of recycled aluminium in circulation is growing continuously.
Recycling from the Start
Life-cycle management begins with closed internal recycled-waste streams. There is therefore almost complete recycling of the scrap that arises from the processing of aluminium, which is returned to the production process. Even the aluminium in the dross that results from recycling is recovered. In addition, operating and auxiliary materials, such as the core sand needed in sand casting processes to make the moulds used for casting engine blocks and cylinder heads, the lubricants used to roll semi-fabricated products, the solvent residues from foil-lacquering processes or the caustic soda used in the production of alumina, are returned to the material loop. Another example is the salts that are used in the recycling process to tie up impurities in the scrap; they, too, are recovered. In this way, there is a reduction in the environmental impact and in the demands made on waste disposal sites, and resources are conserved.
Recycling – an Ecological Success
A closed material loop is an important factor when it comes to the efficient utilisation of energy. The energy needed to recycle aluminium is up to 95 per cent less than that needed for primary production. Every reuse of aluminium improves the life-cycle assessment of the material. A well-functioning aluminium recycling industry has always ensured that aluminium is recovered. With a production of some 790,000 tonnes a year, the German aluminium recycling industry is one of the leaders in Europe. In Germany, the production of aluminium from used products has long since overtaken primary aluminium production. The recycling rate is over 90 per cent in the transport sector, over 85 per cent in the building and construction sector and a total of 72 per cent in the packaging industry!
Recycling rates in Germay and the EU
Aluminium – Material for Generations
It has resisted the elements for over 100 years: the dome of San Gioacchino in Rome
An important advantage of aluminium is that it normally has a very long utilisation period. It is not unusual to find components still intact today after being in use for 90-100 years. Thanks to the durability of aluminium products, the utilisation period is often dictated by the life of the building, vehicle or product containing the aluminium part. At the end of the utilisation phase, aluminium is a valuable starting material for further applications. And it does this using only a fraction of the energy originally needed. This means that it is quite possible that the aluminium from grandma’s milk churn is being used today in the engine block of her grandson’s car. And the grandson is unknowingly using aluminium that his own grandson will also use one day. This is because aluminium is not consumed but used. It provides benefits for generations. Recycling rates make an important contribution here.
