New Recycling Technologies for European Aluminum
The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is coordinating the EU project RecAL(Recycling technologies for circular ALuminum), which focuses on sustainability, circular economy and resource efficiency in the aluminum industry.
Recently the initiative was officially launched in Vienna. The parties involved aim to develop innovative recycling technologies and a digital platform for a circular aluminum economy. The HORIZON EUROPE-funded project brings together 19 partner organizations from nine European countries and is coordinated by the LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. “The initiative aims to usher in a new era of sustainable production and reuse for aluminum by creating a digital cockpit, the RecAL Hub”; the coordinator informed. “This enables the circular economy of aluminum recyclates across the continent and connects suppliers, buyers and technology solution providers.” Recycling aluminum from existing end-of-life (EoL) and production waste has enormous potential and requires only five percent of the energy needed to produce primary material, AIT stated underlining the facts. Given its crucial role in global decarbonization, the RecAL project, in line with the European Green Deal, would aim to exploit the potential of this raw material in an environmentally friendly and efficient way.
However, one of the major challenges in recycling aluminum is that the metal is alloyed with a variety of other elements that are virtually impossible to separate again. “The current practice of mixing different EoL alloys inevitably leads to down-cycling and a reduction in available feedstock”, AIT pointed out. “Europe has a rich potential for secondary aluminum, which is expected to account for 49 percent of total aluminum production by 2050. However, this potential source of resources requires a central hub.”
According to the information, the RecAL project takes a comprehensive approach to the sustainable use of this secondary resource and strategically addresses every step of the production and reuse cycle along the entire value chain:
- Higher impurity tolerance in alloy design without compromising properties.
- Exploiting the advantages of digitalization and robotics in sorting and dismantling.
- Creation of recyclate streams with significantly improved purities.
- Adapting production paradigms to unleash the full potential of secondary resources.
- Harmonizing communication between all sectors of the aluminum industry.
“With a strong focus on innovation, RecAL is driving forward a total of 14 major technological solutions for aluminum recycling up to technology readiness level 6 (TRL6). These are integrated into a digital, socio-technical ecosystem that acts as an aluminum hub for the circular economy”, AIT described the goal. “This dynamic platform promotes direct collaboration along the entire value chain and contributes significantly to industrial and technological symbiosis on a large scale by linking energy, resource and data cycles at regional and European level.”
(Published in GLOBAL RECYCLING Magazine 2/2024, Page 34, Photo: AIT/Hainz)
