Recycling aluminium from existing End of Life (EoL) and production scraps uses only 5% of energy compared to primary material production, making it mandatory for exploiting its global decarbonisation potential and meeting the demands of the European Green Deal.
However, once aluminium is alloyed with other metals, it is virtually impossible to remove these elements again. Extensive mixing of different EoL alloys therefore inevitably leads to downcycling. This practice has been a successful strategy due to high demand for cast aluminium alloys in combustion engines, a universal recycling “sink” that will dry up in the coming years.
Europe possesses a rich potential of secondary aluminium resources with an expected share of 49% of total aluminium production by 2050. The RecAL project (Recycling technologies for circular ALuminium) provides a balanced approach to fully exploit this valuable resource. It synergistically addresses all stages of circular production and tackles problems of the entire value chain:
- Increase impurity tolerance in alloy design at level or superior performance
- Exploit the benefits of digitization and robotic assistance in sorting and dismantling
- Create recyclate streams with vastly enhanced purities
- Adapt production paradigms to unfold the full potential of secondary resources
- Harmonise communication between all sectors of the aluminium industry
The project will mature an envelope of 14 crucial technological solutions towards these goals up to TRL6 and embed them into a digital, “socio-technical ecosystems”: the Aluminium HUB for circularity. This interactive platform will directly link stakeholders along the value chain for full scale industrial and technological symbiosis and circular economy closing energy, resource and data loops at regional and European scale.