Aluminium International Today September October 2023

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Volume 36 No. 5 – September/October 2023

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31

Happy New Year!

No, you’ve not travelled through time to read this issue in 2024..!

I recently read an article that described September as feeling like the start of a new year and it made a lot of sense.

The school year in the UK always starts in September and so, from a young age, we are conditioned into that ‘back to school’ feeling, after a long summer of fun with friends (sometimes not so much fun for the parents!)

It is very much the case in the business world, that everything seems to kick back into gear in September, with facilities and plants back after summer shutdowns and industry events and conferences filling the calendar once again.

While I don’t have a favourite season, I do love the beginning of each season and a crisp autumn morning is hard to beat. Typically, as I am writing this, the UK is looking like it will experience a beautifully warm September, after a slightly average August, so my love of crisp autumn mornings might have to wait for a while!

Hopefully this issue will provide you with everything you need at the start of your ‘new year’ and you can mark off all the events that are planned on your calendar with items from your new pencil case!

We start this issue with an indepth look at what the CBAM regulations mean for non-EU Based aluminium producers and there is a detailed feature, which looks at the significant investments in the aluminium industry across the USA, specifically in rolled and extruded aluminium production.

I hope you enjoy the issue and wish you all a very Happy ‘New’ Year!

nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

Rio Tinto and Sumitomo to build Gladstone hydrogen pilot plant

Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Corporation will build a first-of-a-kind hydrogen plant in Gladstone as part of a A$111.1 million program aimed at lowering carbon emissions from the alumina refining process.

The Yarwun Hydrogen Calcination Pilot Demonstration Program received the green light after a A$32.1 million co-funding boost from the federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

The program is aimed at demonstrating the viability of us-

ing hydrogen in the calcination process, where hydrated alumina is heated to temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.

It involves construction of a hydrogen plant at the refinery and the retrofit of refinery processing equipment. If successful, the program could pave the way for adoption of the technology at scale globally.

Rio Tinto Aluminium Pacific Operations Managing Director Armando Torres said “This pilot plant is an important step in testing whether hydrogen can replace

natural gas in Queensland alumina refineries.

“At Rio Tinto we have put the energy transition at the heart of our business strategy, and this is one of the ways we’re working towards decarbonising our operations.

“We are proud to be developing this new technology here in Gladstone, in partnership with Sumitomo Corporation, and with support from ARENA.”

The hydrogen plant and calciner are expected to be in operation by 2025.

South32 collaborates with Fives to reduce HF emissions

In South Africa, South32 is engaged in an ambitious project to limit GTC stack HF emissions at 0,5 mg/Nm³ by April 2025 to comply with new environmental regulation.

Following the implementation of a first Alumina Cascade Feeding System on one Gas Treatment Center at the beginning of the year, the customer has confirmed its intention to deploy the solution on the 4 additional GTCs, but also to convert its VIBRAIR pocket filters

into Extended Surface Bags.

Extended Surface Bag is now a well-known technology, which brings, when applied to GTC, a lot of advantages with regard to filtration surface increase, as increasing the pollutants treatment capacity, or reducing the system pressure drop and HF stack emissions.

his project is part of Hillside’s commitment to implement Fives’ recommendations from previous audits to meet emissions targets,

and thus addressing the challenges of a more virtuous industry.

Alba joins forces with Nasser Artificial Intelligence R&D Centre

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) underlined its commitment to advance in Artificial Intelligence (AI) within its operations with the successful completion of “Green Anode Density Prediction” -- one of the many joint projects with Nasser Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Centre.

To celebrate this remarkable achievement, an honouring ceremony was held at Alba’s premises where Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Ali Al Baqali, and Nasser Artificial Intelligence R&D Centre CEO, Dr. Abdulla Naser Al Noaimi, honoured the Centre’s team involved in the project, in the presence of

the Centre’s AI Executive Advisor, Dr. Jassim Haji, as well as other Alba and Nasser Vocational Training Centre (NVTC) officials.

Green Anode Density Prediction is one of many joint projects to be implemented between Alba and Nasser Artificial Intelligence R&D Centre.

EXLABESA acquires FLANDRIA ALUMINIUM

LME aapoints new CEO

LME Clear has announced the appointment of Michael Carty as Chief Executive Officer and LME Clear Board Director, effective 2 October 2023.

EXLABESA has announced the acquisition of FLANDRIA ALUMINIUM, a French company who specialises in the extrusion, machining, surface treatment and recycling of aluminium profiles. The recently signed agreement has passed the legal validation process by the competent authorities and has been approved by the French Competition Commission.

This takeover, which is part of EXLABESA’s international expansion strategy, will strengthen its direct presence in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, allowing the company to offer high value-added products with the highest level of service in these markets.

The two companies, both of family origin, claim they share identical values and the same pas-

sion for the aluminium industry. EXLABESA will bring its entrepreneurial vision and investment capacity to strengthen the French company and drive its long-term growth. At the same time, FLANDRIA will maintain a high degree of autonomy to respond most effectively to the specific needs of its market.

Hydro invests in future of Lucé extrusion plant in France

Hydro has announced it will be investing NOK 67 million (EUR 6 million) in upgrading the equipment, buildings and infrastructure at its aluminium extrusion plant in Lucé, France. The funds will also cover a new employee development program.

The Lucé plant operates two extrusion presses and an anodizing facility, and has been providing customers with custom-made and standard aluminium profiles since its production start in 1959.

“The Lucé plant has the people and the potential to become an industrial leader in the French landscape. The investment is going to

improve the site’s ability to reach its potential,” says Roland Van der Aa, Vice President France for Hydro’s Extrusion Europe business unit.

Hydro employs about 160 peo-

ple in Lucé, which is in the Chartres region, about one hour southwest of Paris.

The new investment will be directed mainly toward technical on-site refurbishments.

Rio Tinto commits $150 million to Centre for Future Materials

Rio Tinto has announced that they have committed $150 million to create a Centre for Future Materials led by Imperial College London to find innovative ways to provide the materials the world needs for the energy transition.

The ‘Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials’ will fund research programmes to transform the way vital materials are produced, used and recycled, and make them more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.

Under the partnership, Rio Tinto

and Imperial will together define a set of major global challenges that need to be addressed. These will form the basis of the first research programmes the Centre pursues, in partnership with a selection of international academic institutions.

The Centre will be established in the second half of 2023, with the first research programmes funded in 2024. Rio Tinto will contribute $150 million over 10 years to fund the Centre.

The LME has said that Michael brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in financial infrastructure and technology. He joins LME Clear from Euroclear Group, where he has held various senior roles over the last 15 years, including Chief Information Officer and Chief Operations Officer for Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear Finland, CEO of Euroclear Sweden and, most recently, CEO of Euroclear UK and International.

Vedanta appoints John Slaven, former COO of Alcoa, as CEO for Aluminium Business

Announcing the appointment, Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Group said, “We welcome John as the CEO for Vedanta’s Aluminium business and look forward to him driving the company’s growth. Aluminium is a ‘Metal of the Future’ and integral to the energy transition. John joins at an exciting time as the world looks at India as the plus one to China in manufacturing. I believe that his global experience and formidable track record in the aluminium sector will be a real asset for the company.”

CRU appoints Chief Information Officer

CRU has announced the appointment of Larry Lorden as Chief Information Officer. Larry, who is based in the United Kingdom, will apply his extensive experience globally to strengthen CRU’s leadership team and support its customers to access the company’s unique, robust data to inform future-proofed business decision making.

EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery certified by ASI

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) announced that its Al Taweelah alumina refinery has been certified for its environmental, social and governance performance by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative.

All EGA operational assets around the world are now certified to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s Performance Standard V2 (2017).

The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative is a global, non-profit organisation that brings together aluminium producers, end-users

such as BMW Group and Nespresso, civil society, and the public through consultation, to determine what constitutes good sustainability performance in the aluminium sector.

Al Taweelah alumina refinery has amongst the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in the alumina refining industry, due to highly efficient processes and operations.

The responsible management of bauxite residue, a by-product from the refining process, has been a key priority for Al Taweelah alumina re-

finery since before its construction. EGA’s Research & Development team has made a global breakthrough in the re-use of bauxite residue as a manufactured soil, and is advancing further potential uses including in novel construction materials. Finding viable re-uses for bauxite residue has been a challenge for the alumina refining industry for more than a century.

More broadly, EGA was the first company in the world to make aluminium commercially using solar power.

CRU launches new Sustainability and Emissions Service

CRU have announced that it has launched its new sustainability and emissions service to offer users commodities intelligence through a sustainability lens.

The world’s prioritisation of sustainability has brought a variety of new policies and societal expectations to businesses. However, the current trajectory of emissions reductions is insufficient to adequately address climate change, increasing the likelihood of more severe policies in the near future. Adapting operations to meet new

requirements, laws and policies while remaining economically viable can be a complex task for businesses.

Further, no commodity is untouched by such sustainability factors. Having a centralised view and knowledge base allows clients to make consistent decisions within an informed business strategy and understand the implications of these factors for their operations and markets.

The service gives users a comprehensive, coherent view of how

the transition to a low carbon, sustainable economy will affect different commodities and impact market dynamics.

The service aims to build on CRU’s existing deep commodity market knowledge and sustainability tools, such as the Emissions Analysis Tool. CRU is known and trusted for data excellence, robust data modelling and transparent methodologies and now seeks to apply that expertise through a sustainability lens.

Novelis and thyssenkrupp Materials Services partner to drive circularity

Novelis Inc. and thyssenkrupp

Materials Services have formed a partnership to increase end-of-vehicle-life recycling and availability of valuable secondary materials that can be recovered from automobiles at the end of the consumer-use cycle.

Through the joint development of a digital platform called the Automotive Circularity Platform

(ACP), the companies seek to digitalise the market for secondary materials recovered from end-of-life vehicles and increase its transparency by creating an ecosystem with the common long-term goal to increase the recycling rate of cars and reduce carbon emissions. ACP will be a digital marketplace that connects stakeholders throughout the automotive end-of-life value

chain and empowers automotive suppliers to capture and reuse aluminium and other materials, such as steel, plastics, glass, rubber, and more.

While closed-loop aluminium recycling of production scrap has become a sustainability best practice in the automotive industry in recent years, the loop at the end of a vehicle’s life has yet to be closed. In a market that is thriving with diverse opportunities and on the brink of exciting growth, the partnership between Novelis and thyssenkrupp Materials Services is a major step toward achieving a circular economy for aluminium.

OCTOBER

11th - 13th

Inalco 23

Organised by the Aluminium Cluster AluQuébec and the Aluminium Research Centre

REGAL

Held in Québec City, Canada www.event.fourwaves. com/inalco2023/pages

12th - 14th

ALUEXPO

The 8th International Aluminium Technology, Machinery and Products Trade Fair.

Held in Istanbul, Turkey www.aluexpo.com

18th - 20th

AZ Global Conference Success lies in collaboration and cooperation, and the AZ Global conference is exactly the place to share ideas, learn from others and work together.

Held in Shanghai, China www. conference.azglobalconsulting.com

25th - 26th

ALUMINIUM USA

ALUMINUM USA is an industry event covering the entire value chain from upstream (mining, smelting) via midstream (casting, rolling, extrusions) to downstream (finishing, fabrication).

Music City Center, Nashville, Tennessee www.aluminum-us.com

NOVEMBER

7th - 8th

ALUMINIUM Business Summit

The ALUMINIUM Business Summit will be returning for a second round. The event at Altes Stahlwerk in Düsseldorf will be the best place for the aluminium industry to attend keynotes and panel discussions as well as to network.

Düsseldorf, Germany www.aluminiumexhibition.com/en-gb.html

For a full listing visit www.aluminiumtoday.com/ events

Understanding the Carbon Boarder Adjustment Mechanism

How much do non-EU based aluminium producers need to worry about the new CBAM regulation?

By Jonathan Leclercq*

The global aluminium industry has long been an essential pillar for various sectors, including construction, transportation, packaging, and many others. As the world transitions towards a sustainable future, the demand for aluminium is expected to grow steadily, especially as it plays a crucial role in the energy transition. However, challenges lie ahead – particularly for non-EU based aluminium producers who export to the European Union.

CBAM, or the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, is a new regulation introduced by the EU as part of its ‘Fit for 55’ package. Published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 10 May 2023, CBAM aims to tackle carbon leakage and encourage cleaner industrial production worldwide. This regulation will initially impact nonEU based producers in hard-to-abate sectors, including aluminium, iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, and electricity, and it will also affect EU-based importers of these products. Carbon leakage occurs when businesses move their production to countries with less stringent climate policies, or when EU products are replaced by more carbonintensive imports, shifting emissions outside Europe and undermining global climate mitigation efforts. In the aluminium sector this poses a serious threat, with approximately one-third of primary smelting capacity in Europe already closed and replaced by facilities outside the EU.

The essence of CBAM lies in addressing carbon emissions from the manufacturing of goods imported into the EU. Starting from 1 October 2023, non-EU based aluminium producers will be required to provide quarterly reports on the carbon

emitted during the production of their goods, known as GHG (greenhouse gas) embedded emissions. Then, from 2026 onwards, EU importers will have to pay a carbon tax by purchasing carbon certificates equivalent to the carbon price that would have been paid if the goods had been produced under the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS).

Challenges and opportunities for aluminium companies

For the aluminium sector, CBAM brings both challenges and opportunities. On one hand, complying with CBAM may increase costs in the short-term, require companies and employees to get to grips with new processes and procedures, and make it necessary to communicate even more with suppliers and buyers than before. However, being well-prepared and ahead of the competition can also provide advantages and potentially increase market share.

This mandatory reporting places a new burden on aluminium producers, necessitating additional resources and efforts to accurately track and measure embedded emissions. Complying with CBAM may also require investments in technology and systems to collect and manage data effectively, further contributing to the increase in operational expenses. Furthermore, the cost of the

Manager – Decarbonisation & Sustainability at DNV

*Senior

Jonathan Leclercq

carbon tax imposed on EU importers from 2026 onwards will likely be passed on to non-EU producers in the form of higher product prices. As a result, preparing early and before your competitors becomes crucial in mitigating the impact of these increased costs.

One way to gain a competitive advantage, lower costs and increase market share is by looking into ways to actively reduce embedded emissions. Companies that take proactive measures to lower their carbon footprint and transition to more sustainable production practices will be better positioned to comply with CBAM regulations and absorb the associated costs more effectively. Such initiatives might include adopting cleaner energy sources, implementing energy-efficient technologies, and optimising production processes to minimise emissions.

Another crucial aspect of being wellprepared is ensuring a transparent supply chain. Collaborating closely with suppliers to gather accurate data on emissions across the value chain is essential for accurate reporting under CBAM. By establishing strong partnerships with suppliers who share the same commitment

to sustainability, non-EU producers can secure a competitive advantage by providing verified low-carbon products that meet the stringent requirements of the EU market.

Furthermore, companies that embrace transparency and adopt third-party verification for their emissions data can enhance their credibility in the marketplace. Trustworthiness and accountability are becoming vital factors for consumers and investors when making purchasing decisions. By demonstrating a proactive approach to CBAM compliance and sustainability, companies can enhance their brand image and attract customers who are also aiming to become more eco-conscious, leading to an expansion of their market share.

How should aluminium companies get ready for CBAM?

Aluminium producers must take steps to reduce embedded emissions, collaborate with actors along their supply chain to gather accurate data required for CBAM reporting obligations to ensure continued market access to the EU, and continue to focus on sustainability initiatives across

the sector. This is likely only the start of more actions to come from regulators across the world.

To prepare for the start of the CBAM reporting period on 1 October 2023, companies should enter a readiness assessment phase. This involves evaluating existing reporting capabilities – some producers may be more mature than others – and identifying gaps in meeting the regulatory requirements. Establishing a robust data collection system is crucial, as providing accurate and primary data will be more advantageous than relying on default values drawn from secondary data.

CBAM is a significant step towards global climate mitigation, and its implementation will improve transparency and intends to encourage industries worldwide to adopt cleaner production practices. Although non-EU based aluminium producers will face challenges in complying with CBAM, seeking the assistance of expert advisors to help collect, verify and report the data to the EU in the required way will ensure a smoother transition, and pave the way for a more sustainable future for the aluminium industry. �

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TOGETHER TOWARDS PERFORMANCE

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT REEL is on a journey contributing towards a net-zero Aluminium Industry.

reelinternational.com

REEL Aluminium is a major solution provider dedicated to reduce the carbon footprint in the Aluminium industry. Both internal and external partnership, new ways of understanding and innovative technological investments in the development of net-zero solutions for the Aluminium industry are the best conditions for REEL‘s goals to work together on its path to decarbonization and to green Aluminium future.

Aluminium recycling in the USA

By Richard McDonough*

Aluminium is one of the most frequently recycled products in the United States of America (USA). Along with steel, cardboard, and glass, recycling levels of aluminium have increased during the past few decades, but the percentages of items recycled remain lower than in other nations.

The level of aluminium recycling in the USA is lower than the overall aluminium recycling rates in much of Europe. This is especially true with recycling levels of aluminium beverage cans.

According to the most recent report from The Aluminum Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), 45.2% of aluminium cans were recycled in 2020; this joint report was issued in 2021.

“The latest report by Metal Packaging Europe and European Aluminium shows that the overall recycling rate for aluminium beverage cans in the European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland remained high in 2020 at 73% (72.8%),” a news statement from both organisations issued on 14 December 2022 detailed. “With a 3% points drop compared to 2019 and a growth of 9% cans consumed, the total amount of aluminium recycled from cans reached a record level of 510,000 tonnes, an increase of more than 20,000 tonnes since the previous year.”

This report indicated that recycling rates of aluminium beverage cans were at 99%

in Germany, 98% in Finland, and 94% in Estonia and Switzerland in 2020. Other countries with recycling rates above 90% during that year included Belgium and Norway (each at 93%), Sweden (91%), and Lithuania (90%).

A number of businesses and organisations active in the aluminium industry in the USA are striving to increase the level of aluminium recycling in the country. These entities are moving forward with a number of recycling initiatives, programmes, and developments.

Among the companies investing in enhanced aluminium recycling projects are Ball Corporation, Hydro, and Novelis. The Aluminum Association, the CMI and The Recycling Partnership are among the organisations actively trying to increase the level of aluminium recycling in the USA. Alcoa Foundation, Arconic Foundation, Ardagh Metal Packaging, and Crown Holdings are among the entities supporting civic endeavors in the area of aluminium recycling.

Details on some of these efforts follow.

Recycling As Part Of Strategies To Reach Net-Zero Carbon Emissions

The CMI announced on 20 April 2023 that “leading aluminium beverage can manufacturers and can sheet producers endorse strategy for net-zero, 1.5°C-aligned aluminium industry…These endorsements reflect the aluminium

beverage can industry’s aim to reduce the carbon footprint of the relatively small amount of primary aluminium in beverage cans, thereby contributing toward the needed progress in the fight against climate change.”

In this statement, the CMI reported that “…its aluminium beverage can manufacturer members (Ardagh Metal Packaging, CANPACK, Crown Holdings, and Envases), its aluminium beverage can sheet producer members (Constellium, Kaiser Aluminum, Novelis, and TriArrows Aluminum), as well as its partner and fellow endorser The Aluminum Association, will be working with a variety of stakeholders inside and outside of the industry to catalyse the necessary actions and investments to pursue this transition strategy.”

The CMI describes itself as “…the national trade association of the metal can manufacturing industry and its suppliers in the USA.”

The organisation noted that “transitioning the aluminium industry to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 whilst complying with a target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C from preindustrial levels will require a variety of actions including deploying new technologies, decarbonising power supply, and increasing material and product efficiency.”

Increasing the recycling rates of

People gathered as Hydro conducted a traditional Norwegian ceremony called “Kranselag” as the last beam was installed at the company’s new aluminium recycling plant in Cassopolis, Michigan. (The photograph was provided courtesy of Hydro, 17 April 2023.)

* Do you have questions about the aluminium industry?Governmental regulations? Company operations? Your questions may be used in a future news column. Contact Richard McDonough at aluminachronicles@gmail.com. © 2023 Richard McDonough

aluminium cans is a key element of this commitment – an endorsement of the Mission Possible Partnership – by major businesses within the aluminium industry.

The amount of recycled content within a newly-manufactured aluminium can averages 73% today in the USA, according to the CMI.

Through the Mission Possible Partnership, the organisation indicated that “…that number [73%] will increase, decreasing the need for primary aluminium, if the industry is successful in reaching stated aluminium beverage can recycling rate targets. These targets, as set by CMI and its members, entail going from a 45% recycling rate in 2020, which makes it the most recycled beverage container in the United States, to a 70% rate in 2030, 80% rate in 2040, and 90% rate in 2050.”

Scott Breen, Vice President of Sustainability at CMI, said that “our strategy has two parallel paths to further reduce the carbon footprint of the aluminium beverage can – lower the carbon footprint of any primary aluminium incorporated into beverage cans and increase the recovery of used beverage cans so the recycled content in new cans increases. Our members have shown leadership in both of these areas by endorsing Mission Possible Partnership’s strategy to foster a net-zero, 1.5°C-aligned aluminium industry and by committing to ambitious USA aluminium beverage can recycling rate targets.”

Mardi Gras In New Orleans

Special events are one of the activities where beverages in aluminium cans are consumed in large quantities by the public. An effort organised through the CMI helped show how aluminium beverage cans could be recycled at a major event, Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Picture 1

“Instead of going to landfill, many thousands of aluminium beverage cans were sold for revenue that CMI doubled

and went to charity or local residents,” according to a statement from the CMI. “Notably, the aluminium in those beverage cans will now be available to be turned into new cans.”

During Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 2023, a total of 142,974 used beverage cans (UBC) were collected and sold to a local metal recycling facility, the CMI reported. This recycling effort generated (US) $1,927 from the actual recycling plus an additional (US) $1,927 in matching funds from the CMI for local charities and residents.

The CMI explained that the Mardi Gras pilot programme, called “Recycle Dat,” collected UBCs in two ways: recycling hubs staffed by volunteers along the most-used parade route and encouraging people to directly drop off UBCs at a nearby recycling facility.

“UBC collection during the initiative supported local charities and allowed people to earn extra cash,” noted the CMI. “The money raised was split between three local charities – Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal, and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. CMI also doubled the market rate payout for UBCs brought directly to EMR [Metal Recycling], and redeemers could either put the money toward the three local charities or keep it. Two-thirds of the cans collected were brought directly to EMR, and the rest were collected along the parade route.”

Mr. Breen of the CMI stated that “in a quest to turn trash into treasure, we are very proud that this pilot effort resulted in nearly 150,000 aluminium beverage cans recycled and sold for revenue instead of going to landfills. We are excited to collaborate with local partners again next year to increase the ability for Mardi Gras partygoers to recycle even more of their used beverage cans, generate more money for charity and local residents, and turn more used beverage cans into new cans.”

Aluminium Recycling Initiative

Investments in equipment have shown to bear fruit in aluminium recycling in the USA.

The Recycling Partnership reported that its Aluminium Recycling Initiative had resulted in a substantial increase in the aluminium being recycled in select areas of the USA. This non-profit organisation has made grants to five entities that serve communities in Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, and Texas.

A news statement issued by The Recycling Partnership on 4 May 2023 indicated that “to date, the grants have captured three times more aluminium than original projections estimated, ultimately resulting in an additional 4.1 million new pounds of aluminium captured annually, equal to more than 18,750 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions avoidance.”

“The Initiative’s efforts have focused on stimulating investment in sorting equipment and process improvements,” this statement continued. “Although materials like aluminium have a long history of recycling and are currently recycled at relatively high recycling rates, there are meaningful opportunities for improvement. To date, the Initiative has received support from the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), the Alcoa Foundation, and Arconic Foundation.”

One of the grant recipients highlighted by The Recycling Partnership is Curbside Management in Asheville, North Carolina. The organisation said that funding from the Aluminium Recycling Initiative provided for investments “…in a larger eddy current separator, allowing the facility to capture 1.3 million new pounds of recycled aluminium per year.”

“Through the Aluminium Recycling Initiative grant, we were able to upgrade our aluminium capture process and maximise our annual tonnage,” stated Barry Lawson, President of Curbside Management. “Adding a larger eddy current separator was essential in increasing the capture and improving the quality of aluminium from the container line.”

The news statement noted that other grant recipients increased aluminium capture by transitioning from manual sorting to automated sortation. This switch, according to The Recycling Partnership, decreased the possibilities for aluminium products to be missorted into the plastic container stream.

“There is a growing need to modernise MRFs [material recovery facilities] to enhance sortation, increase capture rates, and improve bale quality,” said Adam Gendell, Director of Materials Advancement at The Recycling Partnership. “These grants prove that investment can

Picture 1. Scott Breen of the CMI (to the left) and Brett Davis, Founder of Grounds Krewe, a local organisation in New Orleans, are seen here standing in front of some of the 142,974 aluminium beverage cans collected during Recycle Dat. This pilot project was supported by both organisations, among others, to collect and recycle aluminium beverage cans as part of Mardi Gras in the city known as “The Big Easy.” (The photograph was provided courtesy of the CMI, February of 2023.)

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drive meaningful improvement, but we need continued support to achieve fullscale change.”

The organisation explained that “whilst great strides have been made, there is a continued need for this type of impactful investment by all companies and organisations who share the vision of a more circular system for aluminium packaging.”

Aluminium Can Capture Grants for MRFs

The Recycling Partnership is continuing to work with the CMI to lead some of those efforts to increase recycling rates of aluminium products through a new grant programme that is seeking applicants during 2023.

“Aluminium beverage can manufacturers Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings are funding a new grant opportunity as part of their continuing support of activities to spur the installation of additional aluminium can capture equipment in material recovery facilities (MRFs), which sort single-stream recyclables,” according to a news statement issued by the CMI on 4 May 2023. “This new grant opportunity builds on the five grants in 2021 that exceeded expectations when nearly 140 million aluminium beverage cans were captured and recycled each year due to the improvements with annual impacts of more than $2 million generated for the recycling system.”

The news statement from the CMI detailed that “making a beverage can from recycled aluminium reduces energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% compared to using new aluminium. The beverage can’s existing circular system recycles nearly 46.7 billion cans each year in the USA.”

“That is the equivalent of 11, 12-packs per person and more than 5.4 million cans each hour,” the news statement continued. “This scale and the fact that most recycled cans get turned into new cans is how the average aluminium beverage can in the USA has 73% recycled content.”

Whilst noting that recycled cans, on average, go from recycling bin to store shelf as new cans in about 60 days, the news statement from the CMI concluded by stating that “the aluminium beverage can industry expects to have more cans recycled in the coming years as it executes on its roadmap to achieve its ambitious recycling rate targets.”

Hydro - Cassopolis

One of the major global companies active in the aluminium industry in the USA is Norsk Hydro ASA (Hydro). The firm is in the process of building a new aluminium

recycling plant in Cassopolis, Michigan. Investments in this plant are projected to be (US) $150 million. Seventy jobs are anticipated to be created because of this new plant. Picture 2

Completion is anticipated in the 4th Quarter of 2023.

Hydro indicated that it has ambitions to double the recycling of post-consumer aluminium by 2025.

According to the company, this new plant is projected to produce 120,000 tonnes of recycled aluminium extrusion ingot per year and will be the first large scale producer of Hydro CIRCAL in North America: “…Hydro CIRCAL aluminium extrusion ingot contains at least 75% post-consumer scrap, certified by third party auditors DNV GL, and has a market leading CO2 footprint of just 2.3 kg CO2e/ kg aluminium or less.”

A traditional Norwegian ceremony called “Kranselag” was held by Hydro in Cassopolis on 17 April 2023. Similar to an American tradition called “Topping Out,” the ceremony in Michigan involved placing a wreath on the side of the new recycling plant.

(As an aside, the tradition in the USA –“Topping Out” – usually involves placing an evergreen tree on the top of the last piece of the building’s structure. That tradition reportedly had its origins in Scandinavia.)

“I would like to say thank you to the construction team and local stakeholders for helping us achieve this production milestone,” stated Ingrid Guddal, Head of Recycling in Hydro Aluminium Metal.

“We are grateful for the warm welcome we have received in Cassopolis and look forward to continuing work with the local community to bring stable jobs, career opportunities as well as investing in local education to bring forth the next generation of Hydro employees. Let’s continue the great progress and ensure a safe installation and start-up of the plant.”

A news statement issued by Hydro on 18 April 2023 explained that “applications for

the aluminium produced in Cassopolis will include critical automotive applications as well as other transportation uses, consumer, and building system applications.”

“Aluminium plays a significant role in the light-weighting of electric and hybrid vehicles, as cars need less electricity and fewer or smaller batteries to travel the same distances,” the news statement continued. “With the automotive industry embarking on its biggest transformation since the assembly line, the state of Michigan is fundamental as consumers go electric. To meet this challenge, Hydro is bringing its next generation recycling technology, pioneered in Europe, to the plant in Cassopolis.”

Sustainability through recycling is a critical goal for Hydro and its customers.

“We are seeing increasing interest in terms of low-carbon products and sustainability, where automotive companies look for more low-carbon materials to put into their vehicles and make their cars more sustainable,” said Ms. Guddal. “We are here to serve this growing demand by providing our industry leading proprietary alloys for more critical automotive applications from Cassopolis, Michigan.”

Novelis – Bay Minette

Novelis is the process of building a new, low-carbon facility in Bay Minette, Alabama. According to the company, this is the first fully-integrated aluminium manufacturing and recycling plant built in the USA in nearly 40 years and is expected to create up to 1,000 new jobs in Baldwin County. Picture 3

Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, welcomed the decision of Novelis to invest more than $2.5 billion to build this recycling and rolling plant in Baldwin County.

“With this massive investment and these large-scale hiring plans, Novelis will launch a high-tech aluminium mill that will generate significant economic impacts

Picture 2. As part of a traditional Norwegian ceremony called “Kranselag,” a wreath was attached to the side of the new aluminium recycling plant of Hydro in Cassopolis, Michigan. (The photograph was provided courtesy of Hydro, 17 April 2023.)

throughout the region for generations,” said Governor Ivey at the time of the initial announcement on 11 May 2022. “Novelis is a world-class company, and we know that it has selected a prime location in Sweet Home Alabama and specifically Baldwin County as home for its growth plans.”

With an initial capacity of 600,000 tonnes of finished goods for the North American can and automotive markets, this new Alabama facility will be powered by renewable energy, use recycled water and operate as a zero-waste facility, noted a news statement from Novelis; the company stated that it is working toward a goal of achieving net carbon neutrality at Bay Minette.

Groundbreaking took place on 7 October 2022.

“Novelis is making significant progress on the construction of its new recycling, rolling and finishing facility in Bay Minette to serve the North American beverage can and automotive markets,” said a spokesperson of Novelis, Inc. “The building piling and foundation work is well under way.”

“In addition, 100% of the main equipment for the facility has been secured,” the spokesperson continued. “We have committed nearly all the beverage packaging capacity with longterm customer contracts and remain on track to complete the facility in mid2025.”

Novelis describes itself as “a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited, an industry leader in aluminium and copper, and the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India.”

In a company statement, Novelis is the world’s largest recycler of aluminium – recycling 82 billion aluminium cans globally during FY 2023.

On 1 June 2023, Novelis announced that it had entered into a new long-term contract with Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Sales & Services Company, the contracting agent for The Coca-Cola Company’s authorised North American bottlers (“CCBSS”).

“Under the agreement, Novelis will supply Coca-Cola’s authorised North American bottlers with aluminium can sheet for The Coca-Cola Company’s family of iconic brands,” according to this news statement from Novelis. “This includes supply from Novelis’ plant in Bay Minette, Alabama…The Coca-Cola North American bottlers, through the CCBSS and Novelis agreement, have committed to purchasing a confidential volume of aluminium can sheet over a multi-year period.”

Steve Fisher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novelis, said that “this new long-term contract builds on a decades-long relationship between Novelis and the Coca-Cola system, and further strengthens Novelis’ position as the leading provider of aluminium for beverage cans. This contract validates our investment in expanding rolling and recycling capacity in North America and solidifies a strong future for sustainable aluminium as the beverage packaging material of choice.”

Sustainability is a key part of this contract which includes closed-loop recycling.

“Through closed-loop recycling programmes, Novelis directly takes back the manufacturing scrap generated during the can making process, recycles it and converts it into new can sheet, which is then made into new beverage cans,” the news statement from the company detailed.

Dan Coe, Chief Procurement Officer of The Coca-Cola Company, stated that “the evolving role on behalf of The Coca-Cola Company and our Bottlers is to build a resilient domestic supply chain, thus

enabling sustainable long-term growth. We recognise Novelis as a leader in sustainability, committed to supporting our 2030 World Without Waste Targets.” Growth in the sustainable aluminium sheet market is anticipated to continue for years to come.

“Novelis expects demand for aluminium beverage can sheet to grow at a 3% compounded annual growth rate from 2022 to 2031,” the company articulated in its news statement dated 1 June 2023. “The demand growth is driven by consumer preference for more sustainable products and size variety, as well as more beverage types being packed in cans, including water, energy drinks, soda, beer, wine, hard seltzers, and ready-to-drink cocktails.”

Ball Corporation

Referencing the recycling rate of 45.2% of aluminium cans in 2020 – the most recent level reported by The Aluminum Association and the CMI – Ball Corporation indicated that the firm is working to increase the aluminium recycling rates in the USA and beyond.

“Whilst higher than the recycling rates of other types of packaging, there is significant room for growth and opportunity to increase real recycling rates even further,” according to a statement from the company. “At Ball Corporation, we work every day to increase not just collection, but real recycling of aluminium cans.”

“A recent report from the [U S] Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that only 25% of waste in the United States is actually being recycled, and most of that is downcycled into lower value products, which ultimately end up in landfills … or worse,” the statement from Ball Corporation continued. “That’s not real recycling. As the world confronts

Picture 3. Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new manufacturing and recycling plant being built by Novelis in Bay Minette, Alabama. (The photograph was provided courtesy of the Office of the Governor of Alabama, 7 October 2022.)

Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, welcomed the decision of Novelis to invest more than $2.5 billion to build this recycling and rolling plant in Baldwin County.

COMMITTED.

We’re pioneering the decarbonization of the aluminum industry.

With nearly $2 billion of completed and announced investments in recycling from 2011 to date, we have achieved an average of 61% recycled aluminum content in our products. But we’re not stopping there. Through continued innovation and partnerships, Novelis is committed to increasing the recycled content of our aluminum even further to reduce carbon emissions across the global value chain.

an overwhelming packaging waste crisis, it’s worth asking, Why aren’t we recycling more?”

Ball Corporation detailed that it is working on several ways to increase recycling, including a focus on five elements: creating products that are designed to be recycled, supporting transparent measurement of the true environmental impact of products when taking into account recycling rates and circularity, supporting Federal and state policies to increase recycling beyond mere collection, investing in green infrastructure to support a more circular system, and educating consumers on the importance of real recycling and the circular economy.

The company describes itself as a firm that “…supplies innovative, sustainable

aluminium packaging solutions for beverage, personal care, and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the USA government.”

On 19 April 2023, Ball Corporation announced “…that it has received the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) certification for the Performance and Chain of Custody Standards for its Global Aerosol Packaging division. Ball’s Aerosol division offers a variety of infinitely recyclable innovative aluminium packaging solutions in the personal care, household, and beverage packaging categories. These include a range of impact extruded single and multi-use aluminium bottles, as well as innovative aerosol containers with primary aluminium content made using low-carbon energy sources.”

This recognition from the ASI is designed to encourage sustainability throughout the aluminium industry.

“Achieving ASI certification demonstrates our commitment to sustainability and is the result of a rigorous

process,” stated Jay Billings, President of Ball Aerosol Packaging. “Infinitely recyclable aluminium packaging is a prime example of material circularity where resources stay in the system, reducing impacts on the environment. Our aluminium aerosol business’ sustainability efforts showcase what can be achieved through material and emissions reduction goal setting, innovation, and, especially, partnership with customers.”

According to the company, “the ASI announcement aligns to Ball’s 2030 sustainability goals, which include ensuring all aluminium is purchased from certified sustainable sources and a commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions before 2050 and transitioning to 100% renewable electricity by 2030.” �

Five photographs that show the progress of construction at the site of the new Novelis aluminium manufacturing and recycling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama. (The photographs were provided courtesy of Novelis, July of 2023.)

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Worlds first batch of recycled aluminium using Hydrogen

Norsk Hydro announced its first batch of recycled aluminium, using green hydrogen fuels, in June 2023. Zahra Awan* spoke with Per Christian Eriksen** on the achievements and commitments that have been made in the name of sustainable Hydrogen, and what can be expected in the future.

Hydrogen: Named after Greek ‘Hydro’ and ‘genes/ birth’ meaning water forming. The first element in the periodic table, arguably the most abundant element, one of the founding elements of the universe [1]. Hydrogen who presents itself as the modern-day saviour. Havrand: Defined by Per Christian Eriksen, Head of Hydro Havrand as “a Norwegian word that describes the line where the ocean meets the sky – like the horizon, but specifically at sea level. In days gone by, seafarers bravely travelled beyond the limit of what they could see to find better and faster routes – and that is what we will do in the hydrogen market as well.”[2]

HYDRO HAVRAND

“We need to move away from fossil fuels, and green Hydrogen is key to making that happen. Hydro Havrand offers green Hydrogen made from renewable energy to help bring the world to net-zero emissions.” [2]

WHY HYDROGEN:

What was the inspiration for using Hydrogen as a fuel, and the start-up of Hydro Havrand?

A few years back Hydro looked at its strategy, where decarbonisation to further reduce the CO2 emissions and lower the carbon content of our aluminium is key. As a part of the strategies and planning Hydrogen came to our attention. Hydro had already electrified many of its plants and sites, but the next goal was to

decarbonise entirely. Hydro is developing proprietary technology, called HalZero, for the electrolysis process, and explore to use carbon capture to remove emissions as well. But hydro needed to also address those processes where it’s difficult to use electrification directly. This typically refers to the high heat processes and calcination process.

Working through this strategy, we considered whether we should buy the

What benefits did you expect to see from Hydrogen beyond sustainability?

We focus on green Hydrogen, the most sustainable form of Hydrogen out there, to decarbonise hydro and help others to decarbonise – and reach their climate targets. We believe that by decreasing the CO2 footprint of Hydro’s aluminium we will create real shareholder value.

How can already low carbon aluminium be improved with the use of Hydrogen?

Green hydrogen can reduce the CO2 footprint of all Hydro products. It can specifically completely remove all emissions from the recycling of aluminium. Hydro has several products containing various degrees of recycled post-consumer scrap. Our CIRCAL 100R product is made from 100 % recycled post-consumer scrap, with emissions around ½ a kilo of CO2 per Kilo of reduced metal. If we in the future can replace natural gas with green hydrogen in this process, we will have a zero carbon aluminium product.

How about primary production?

Looking at the primary production of aluminium value chain, the biggest opportunity to decarbonise through hydrogen is in the calcination process. Also whenever we melt large volumes of metal, we consider the use of Hydrogen, and its role throughout. The location must always be considered to ensure for instance enough access to renewable

power for the hydrogen production, and a competitive levelized cost of hydrogen. There may be instances where other solutions such as biogas or plasma technology is the most sustainable solution, and in others, Hydrogen might be the only option. But Green Hydrogen is a key part of the decarbonisation of the industry.

How was Hydrogen different from natural fuel sources?

Hydrogen has different burning values and behaves very differently to natural gas. It is a lighter gas. It is difficult to store. It is very flammable and explosive.

The main difference in using Hydrogen over natural gas is in the safety measures. This has been a key focus for all parties involved at the Hydro Navarra test.

Our main focus is to make sure that it’s safe and that our people, our operators are familiar with Hydrogen, the protocols and the technology.

This project is the perfect example of why an industrial scale test is so important. Understanding the production environment first hand; observing the operators and people who are involved working with the volatile gas. It was important to establish a good dialog with the operators and with the people and with the suppliers. We were able to confirm that all the safety features needed were in place and that you can use Hydrogen in safe conditions without any incidents and without any worry. The test were able to document melting efficiency, and no change the metal quality from using hydrogen in our process, and proved that hydrogen can be introduced safely into aluminium production.

Hydrogen available in the market, or whether use the opportunity to build up our own hydrogen business based on the potential internal demand. We created Hydro Havrand, to become an developer, owner and operator of green hydrogen production facilities, to help hydro decarbonise the assets, but also capture future opportunities by helping other industrial players and hard-toabate sectors decarbonise through green hydrogen.

HYDRO EXTRUSION NAVARRA

With more than 65 years of experience in the aluminium sector, Hydro Extrusions Navarra knows how to produce profiles with stable, controlled, and reliable processes.

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� Extrusion of aluminium profiles, precision cutting, machining. Own casthouse for aluminium recycling. Custom alloys.

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� ASI certification, commitment to sustainability.

CHALLENGES:

How long has it taken for you to reach this milestone? Did you have to adapt the technology/ machinery you currently use, to accommodate the use of Hydrogen?

We were working towards this project for two years. We took intermediate steps and conducted smaller scale tests with detailed analysis to verify that Hydrogen would work in this industry.

Regarding the furnace, we worked in collaboration with Fives. The furnace in question was due to be a decommissioned. The furnace had been operation, on natural gas, for over 30 years. But after some small adjustments to the burners, it was ready for Hydrogen.

We also had to consider a separate fuel train, controls, and piping. Although we primarily used 100% Hydrogen, we also blended Hydrogen with natural gas to evaluate these different parameters.

THE FUTURE:

Does Hydro plan for any other tests in the future?

The next step is to have a pilot on local production of Hydrogen, with an electrolyser, to produce Hydrogen leading directly into the furnace.

We are aiming for an industrial scale pilot to work on this set up, in Norway. We will be running a pilot project where we fuel furnaces, over a longer period, with Hydrogen.

In this next project we will be implementing a five-megawatt electrolyser and it will have an installed in-house connection to a new recycling furnace. This is scheduled to happen in a year or two from now.

Was getting enough Hydrogen for the Project a challenge?

One of the biggest challenges we faced was getting a hold of the volume of green Hydrogen that we needed to execute these tests. We had two trucks of Hydrogen per day during the nine days of testing.

We ended up burning around three tonnes of Hydrogen during those weeks, and we produced in total around 200 tonnes of aluminium. 150 tonnes of aluminium were produced using only Hydrogen.

Sourcing Hydrogen at a larger scale; do you think that Hydrogen is a feasible global solution?

Definitely. That is one of the motivations for doing these tests. The road map, at this stage, aims to bring up the maturity level of both the technology and the Hydrogen, to later implement these permanently in the processes of producing aluminium. So, this is definitely the plan. The Pilot Project aims to assist this vision, and to bring the fuel switch technology to full maturity. Based on that, we can be ready to start rolling it out across a wider basis. We will have to consider locations with attractive sources of renewable power and other conditions key to produce hydrogen at a competitive levelized cost, and we will continue to find those perfect locations. We are led by the demand from the customers, for green materials. Therefore, this is not something on which we can compromise. We see a positive trend towards green materials, and it fits very well with global decarbonisation agenda. I am a true believer.

What is needed from policy makers, governments, large industries, companies, the public, to make Hydrogen a realistic solution for the future?

Today we are still quite early in the cost curve of green Hydrogen, and especially with the current power situation in Europe; we are seeing a higher cost for green Hydrogen over natural gas. The overall decarbonisation of Europe needs help to stimulate the hydrogen market, and make it easier for forward leaning industries to justify their early investments to decarbonise their processes. There is some regulations coming into play, but it would be great if we could see more rapid speed. In the EU we have an official definition on green hydrogen, but we need it in other markets as well. In addition we need support mechanisms to help kick start the Hydrogen market, and education to the customers, operators, and key players on the implementation of Hydrogen.

Bruno D’hondt, Head of extrusion, Europe, Hydro added: On the definition of ‘Green

CONCLUSION:

Hydrogen’, it is essential that there is a distinction between different types of Hydrogen: Pink, grey, blue, green, brown, turquoise, yellow! Regardless of colour, it’s the same molecule. But from an industrial point of view, you are looking at that green Hydrogen and this has the highest value, and demand because our customers demand the lowest and documented CO2 footprint.

The future of Hydrogen is uncertain. That being said, the element has the full support of the aluminium industry. Hydro has demonstrated its faith in the molecule with investments and testing. Perhaps the future of Hydrogen should be described as hope?

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New North American aluminium capacity

By Myra Pinkham*

Even with concerns that, in the short term, there will likely be some easing in aluminium demand, the very aggressive plans for new North American rolled and extruded aluminium production, and recycling capacity are still marching along. It is, however, a different story for primary aluminium, where recent idled capacity is yet to come back online.

“It hasn’t gotten enough attention as far as just how transformative some of the recent rolled aluminium and extruded aluminium investments announced over the past couple of years have been,” said Matt Meenan, a spokesman for the Aluminum Association, noting that the last time that a US greenfield rolling mill had been built was Logan Aluminum, about 40 years ago. Now there have been four announced over the past year or so. “It is pretty remarkable,” he declared.

At the same time there have been significant investments elsewhere in the aluminium value chain, particularly related to aluminium extrusions. Duncan Pitchford, head of strategy and business development at Hydro Aluminum Metals, observed that in addition to there continuing to be “a steady drumbeat” of new extrusion press announcements, with dozens of new presses expected to come online in North America over the next three to four years, Hydro’s new Cassopolis, MI, recycling plant – the company’s first greenfield mill in almost 15 years – with the capacity to produce 120,000 tonnes of aluminium extrusion ingot, is slated to come online in the fourth quarter.

Also, Matthew Abrams, a CRU

aluminium research analyst, observed that Service Center Metals opened-up new remelt and extrusion plants this year and that Sierra Aluminum broke ground on a new plant in the US Southwest and that Apel Extrusions and ABC Aluminum have also announced their intention to build new facilities.

However, it continues to be somewhat a different story for primary aluminium. CRU’s Simon Large said that US smelter capacity has been shrinking significantly over the past 15 years, and that currently only three companies – Alcoa, Century Aluminum and Magnitude 7 – produce primary aluminium domestically.

In fact, about a year ago the North American primary aluminium market lost a bit of production capacity. Matt Aboud, senior vice president for strategy and business development at Century Aluminum noted that high energy prices made production at the plant uneconomical; his company decided to temporarily close its Hawesville, KY, facility, taking about 220,000 tonnes of primary capacity out of the market.

In July, Alcoa took down one of its potlines at its Warrick smelter in Indiana, reducing US primary aluminium production capacity by another 54,000 tonnes, but Aboud said that wasn’t much about power prices, as far as unstable conditions at that potline and labor issues. CRU’s Large said he believes that Alcoa might keep Warrick closed given that its captive cold-fired power does not necessarily fit with Alcoa’s decarbonisation goals.

Daria Efanova, head of research at Sucden Financial, said these moves by Century and Alcoa have increased the need for the US to import primary aluminium, at least at this time, depending on whether their capacity is restarted and other potential primary capacity changes.

While Century had initially expected to restart Hawesville this year, Aboud said the company is waiting for energy prices to come down and to stay down, as well as for LME aluminium prices to improve. “But it could be turned back on rather quickly,” he said, “It is still being maintained, waiting for the environment to be right to turn it back on.”

Meanwhile, in the longer term, there will be some additional primary aluminium capacity. While it isn’t expected to be commissioned until 2025, in April, Rio Tinto began construction on a project to increase the capacity of its Alma smelter in Québec to cast low carbon billet by 202,000 tonnes, using hydropower. Large said Alcoa had been in negotiations with an investment firm to restart its Intalco smelter in Ferndale, WA, they failed given its inability to get a competitively priced power deal. As such, he doesn’t expect that smelter to be restarted over the next five years.

Sucden’s Efanova said that aluminium smelters, including those in North America are taking are taking active roles in the green energy transition, including through the ownership of recycling assets. For example, in July it was announced that Rio Tinto plans to acquire a 50% equity stake in Giampaolo Group’s Matalco

Novelis Bay Minette, Alabama

In April 2023, MetalX announced a $200 million investment to build a greenfield aluminum rolling slab facility in the Midwest. The plant is expected to become fully operational in the first half of 2026 and will employ approximately 100 people.

operation – a leading North American producer of recycled aluminium billet and slab products that gets much of its recyclable feed from Giampaolo’s Triple M Metal subsidiary.

Stephen Williamson, CRU’s aluminium research manager, said that this joint venture partnership further bolster both parties’ presence in the North American primary and secondary aluminium markets.

“Even with the push for green aluminium, the US market still needs primary aluminium,” Aboud said, maintaining that the secondary market isn’t large enough to completely push primary aluminium out. “I don’t see primary aluminium being in competition with secondary aluminium,” he said, “But rather domestic primary aluminium is in competition with imports.”

Regarding the announced US greenfield rolling mill projects, Williamson, CRU’s aluminium research manager, said that at least two of them – an integrated aluminium recycling and rolling facility that Novelis is building in Bay Minette, AL, and the Aluminum Dynamics flat roll mill that Steel Dynamics is building in Columbus, MS, along with two satellite recycled aluminium slab casting centers –are moving ahead as quickly as they can.

Meanwhile, the Manna Capital Partners’ announced in May 2022 that it will partner with Ball Corp to build a aluminium can sheet rolling mill, due to be built in Los Lunas, New Mexico, although it hasn’t broken ground yet. Also, this April Manna announced a strategic partnership with nonferrous scrap recycler MetalX to build a greenfield mill in northeast Indiana, northwest Ohio or southern Michigan, with an annual capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes of ultra-low carbon aluminium rolling slab “with a higher percentage of recycled content than is currently available.” The companies estimated that this new mill be fully operational in the first half of 2026.

There are a number of drivers for these, and some other investments, in US aluminium rolling mill capacity. Ganesh Panneer, vice president of operations at Novelis North America, said that one big driver is the recent increase in domestic demand for beverage cans, and therefore can sheet. He noted that because of this strong demand, the US has been importing about 500,000 tonnes of can sheet per year.

CRU’s Abrams agreed that the biggest

impact of the new US aluminium will be upon can sheet.

He continued that once the capacity comes online, it could flip its market dynamics. While over the past few years can sheet imports have been on the rise, he said that once this new capacity comes online the US could potentially become a net exporter of can sheet.

This is coming at the same time as the growing US demand for aluminium sheet for automotives, including electric vehicle, appliances, and for specialties applications. In fact, Williamson said that CRU is forecasting that from 2023-27 aluminium sheet used by the transportation sector will grow by about 19.5%.

“Broadly there has been a pivot toward

He said that Novelis is in the process of upgrading the hot mill and adding a new coolant room at its Oswego, NY, rolling mill, increasing the hot mill capacity there.

In October 2022, Novelis broke ground on the Bay Minnette mill, which Steve Fisher, its president and chief executive officer, maintained during Novelis’ fiscal first quarter 2024 earnings call in August. The mill aims to be more automated, efficient, and lower carbon emitting than any existing rolling mill. He said that the new mill, which will be largely focused upon the production of can and auto sheet, will have an initial finished goods capacity of about 600,000 tonnes per year, although its site is large enough for a future brownfield expansion to capture growing demand.

Fisher said that Novelis has already secured long-term customer commitments for all the can sheet capacity and that such contract commitments for auto sheet continues to be made “in line with our expectations.”

sustainability and electrification, which are things that are in aluminium’s, including aluminium sheet’s, favour,” Aluminum Association’s Meenan said, given its light weight and recyclability. Hydro’s Pitchford observed that the need for lightweighting, therefore the need for aluminium sheet and extrusions, is magnified for electric vehicles, where every pound counts to help extend its range.

Panneer pointed out that while its Bay Minnette, AL, greenfield recycling and rolling mill, which, when it is commissioned in 2025 will be the first new aluminium rolling mill to be built in the US in 40 years, is by far its largest investment in new capacity. Novelis also has several other projects in the works. That includes the expansion, through the addition of automotive-related finishing lines, at its recycling operations in Guthrie, KY, which will increase its capacity by about 240,000 tonnes when it is commissioned next year. He said that one motivating factor for this investment is Novelis’ desire to meet its sustainability goals by increasing the recycled content – both post-consumer and customer-processed scrap content –in all its products.

Given that the US market is long on demand, Panneer said it makes sense that other companies have also announced projects to increase their aluminium production capacity. In fact, he said that even the decision by Steel Dynamics (SDI), which is traditionally a steelmaker, to build the Aluminum Dynamics 650,000 tonnes per year greenfield mill in Columbus, MS, and its two satellite recycled aluminium slab casting centers (potentially in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and Phoenix, AZ), isn’t surprising. Especially with the company’s exposure to the automotive market.

Also, CRU’s Williamson pointed out that its OmniSource subsidiary has been a valued supplier to aluminium rolling mills for many years, so they understand the market. “They just have to build some equity with the canmakers to reach their targets,” he maintained.

“We are developing the mill site to co-locate processing and consuming operations, as we have successfully done in Sinton, TX, and we already have a number of customers speaking with us about such opportunities,” Mark Millet, its chairman and chief executive officer, said at SDI’s second quarter earnings call, during which he also noted that beyond the mill’s auto casting lines, coating line, downstream process and packaging lines, SDI has expanded the project’s scope to including additional scrap processing and treatment to maximise recycled aluminium content.

Novelis Bay Minette, Alabama

In May 2023, Spectro Alloys announced a $77 million investment to expand its aluminum recycling facility in Rosemount, IL.

Millett said that as all the principal equipment has been ordered, he anticipates that the rolling mill will start up by mid-2025, following the slab centers, which he expects to come online in the first quarter of that year.

There have also been other US investments in recycling capacity, Pitchford said, noting that Hydro, which has recently expanded its cast house in The Dalles, OR, raising its capacity by about 30,000 tonnes, is currently working on a project in Cressona, PA, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year. This will expand the extrusion plant’s capacity by up to 50,000 tonnes a year.

It remains unclear whether moves to increase US aluminium production capacity has peaked or if further investments will be announced. But given that there hasn’t been this level of investment, particularly in US rolling mill capacity, Williamson said that CRU believes that, at least until the

current projects are fully operational and tested, companies will likely take a pause in large scale investment announcements.

But how long of a pause will depend upon what happens as far as aluminium demand. While there are currently some risks, with high inflation and the potential for a slowing of the US economy, Sucden’s Efanova said it appears that there will continue to be end-use growth

opportunities over the mid- to longterm, especially given that the push for sustainability creates a case for companies to switch to aluminium to fulfill their ESG goals.

One question is whether some of the future investment will continue to come from new players or mainly traditional aluminium producers.

“As far as SDI’s decision to build Aluminum Dynamics, the company said that it was reacting to demand from their customers,” Pitchford said. “I’m not sure if others who aren’t traditional aluminium producers will take a similar plunge, but when companies see a growing market that tends to attract capital.”

However, there is a high entrance cost, Williamson said, which could discourage companies, unless, like SDI, they either already have customers that also buy aluminium, or if they already produce aluminium raw materials. �

In August 2022, Hydro announced a $50 million investment in its extrusion plant in Cressona, Pennsylvania. The investment will expand the site’s recycling capabilities, which include remelt and extrusion billet casting, producing low-carbon aluminum products.

Novelis Bay Minette, Alabama

Why addressing the PRN system is key to increasing recycling rates

Martin Hyde* shares the latest Q2 recycling data and explains why the outdated PRN system is in vital need of reform.

According to recent data published on the National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD) by the Environment Agency (EA), aluminium packaging recycling volumes rocketed in Q2. Showing an impressive uplift compared to the same period in 2022, this puts the industry firmly on track to, once again, exceed annual recycling targets.

In Q2 2023, 38,829 tonnes of aluminium packaging were collected for recycling – a 5% increase year-on-year. Of this volume, 26,749 tonnes were recycled through kerbside, bring and on-the-go systems (69% of total volume, +5% YOY), while 11,791 were recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA), with tonnages up +5% compared to 2022.

So far this year, a total of 79,922 tonnes have been captured across the UK, representing 58% of the volume needed to surpass this year’s aluminium packaging recycling target. Compared to 2022, the market is already tracking 11% ahead and, if momentum continues, looks firmly on course to reach record rates.

It’s encouraging to share such positive recycling figures for the second quarter of 2023. Indeed, we’re significantly ahead of 2022 volumes and look set to maintain this progress well into the second half of the year.

However, despite excellent recycling rates, PRN prices remain abnormally high – a dichotomy that undermines

aluminium’s sustainability credentials and directly impacts packaging users who are often perplexed by the erratic cost of compliance. If we’re not careful, skewed pricing will drive an unnecessary increase in the volume of post-consumer material

What is the PRN system and how does it work?

A Packaging Recovery Note, or PRN, is certification that a tonne of packaging waste has been recovered and either reprocessed or exported for reprocessing. They form a key part of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations, which oblige producers (i.e. packaging manufacturers) to recycle packaging waste and meet strict national targets.

sent for recycling overseas, alongside a drop in demand from the domestic market. Moving forward, greater transparency in packaging waste recycling is therefore essential.

Businesses who handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging in the UK (and have an annual turnover of at least £2m) must conform to these regulations. Compliance is achieved by purchasing volumes of PRNs determined by the total volume of packaging placed onto the market, relative to the recycling target of that specific material. The total required volume of PRNs for all UK businesses is published by DEFRA and updated throughout the year as businesses make their data submissions. PRNs can be generated by accredited reprocessors or exporters every time they recycle a tonne of waste material. The reprocessor in question can sell the PRN to an obligated company or compliance scheme, who use the certification to prove that a tonne of packaging material has been recycled on their behalf. Since the scheme was first introduced, all PRNs have been issued electronically to prevent fraud. Mandatory updates covering the quantity

*Sustainability and public affairs manager at the aluminium packaging recycling organisation (Alupro)

Martin Hyde

of PRNS generated are collected from reprocessors by Defra and are published quarterly. Voluntary monthly reporting also exists.

While the system was first developed for individual companies, today intermediaries are prevalent in the marketplace to simplify the process for producers. Schemes and brokers must still acquire evidence on behalf of either their aggregated obligation (in the case of a scheme) or a specific obligated producer (in the case of a broker). Either the name of the scheme or the obligated producer must be included on the PRN as recipient.

If the performance appears lower than that required to meet the UK obligation total, then PRN prices will likely increase as producers seek to not be left without enough evidence to meet their legal obligation. As such, the PRN system is said to be driven on an entirely supply vs demand basis.

What’s wrong with the system and how does this impact recycling rates?

While the system has proven the backbone of UK recycling for more than 25 years, PRNs aren’t without their complications. Indeed, since its initial introduction, the scheme has operated as an entirely closed, value-driven market.

This means that PRNs are traded openly between reprocessors, producers and compliance schemes, which sees the cost of a PRN fluctuate based on the cost of reprocessing (including preparation for recycling and end market availability) as well as the quantity of recyclate being accepted for reprocessing. Access to information on the perceived demand and supply of PRNs is instrumental to the fluctuating value of the PRN itself.

Producers are expected to submit their data, annually, to the regulator in April (the 7th for Direct Registrants and the 15th for compliance scheme members). However, if this deadline is missed, they are given leeway up until the very end of the year before being considered noncompliant.

On the surface, this seems a simple and fair process. However, in practice, the knock-on effects can be fairly major. Indeed, if data is submitted late, it cannot be included in the published UK obligation report, meaning that the ‘demand’ figure is not a true reflection of how many PRNs need to be procured. As there is no current mechanism of forcing submissions on time, producers can theoretically withhold their data while continuing to purchase PRNs.

By doing so, they will have a greater knowledge of the UK’s recycling performance against targets than businesses who have submitted their data on time, giving them an unfair market advantage. While there is a late submission fee payable to the regulator, this is a statutory amount set at just £110 – for even the largest producers in the country.

The penalty therefore simply pays lip service to dissuading delayed submissions, especially for the market’s major players.

On the flipside to late submissions, there is currently nothing in place to force reprocessors or exporters to sell PRNs after they have been generated. It is fairly obvious that this system leaves the door wide open for PRNs to be withheld in order to artificially drive up the market price. When you combine the two, it creates an environment of instability and uncertainty – far from the open market level playing field that was originally envisaged.

How could policy change help to address the imbalance?

PRNs have delivered upon their initial objectives, but the system is now dated and frankly unsuitable for purpose –inflated prices despite strong recycling volumes perfectly demonstrate this. Indeed, many industry professionals believe that the current design of the PRN system has the potential to jeopardise the future of the recycling industry, and have a lasting impact on both the environment and jobs.

A potential successor has been agreed, in the form of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reforms and a highlyfunctioning Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), but government delays mean we’re unlikely to see implementation for the foreseeable future and for the first few years of EPR, the PRN system will continue to operate in parallel. The PRN system has therefore been extended until at least 2027, leaving the packaging sector in limbo and impacting recycling rates. While frustrating, it’s clear that addressing the PRN system should be our number one priority in the meantime. We don’t need yet another consultation, we need action. This will prove pivotal in further driving recycling rates, as well as transitioning towards a more circular economy.

Alupro has four key suggestions for how the PRN system could be amended to potentially reduce volatility and increase the reliability of the system. They are as follows.

1. Enact changes that have already been consulted on: Defra has already consulted on, and agreed to introduce, mandatory monthly data reporting and enhanced registration requirements for reprocessors and exporters. There is currently no timeline for these proposed changes, Defra should set out a timeline for implementation of PRN reform.

2. Introduce a sell by date for PRNs: Introducing a ‘sell by date’ for PRNs would significantly reduce the commercial benefit of withholding evidence from the market, ensuring that data published on PRN generation accurately reflects the evidence available to the market and reducing the impact of attempts to manipulate PRN prices.

3. Significantly increase the financial punishment for late producer data submissions: £110 is not a sufficient fee to encourage timely data submissions. DEFRA should review the success of schemes with higher punitive measures for late data submissions such as ESOS. A system that makes the cost of late submissions reflect the volume of obligation impacted (or turnover of the business concerned) would be more likely to encourage timely submissions from producers.

4. Review the possibility of a compliance fee: There may be a need to implement a compliance fee, whereby an alternative mechanism for compliance exists for producers. This protects producers from paying costs of market manipulation in years of evidence shortfall and reducing price volatility. At the very least, Defra should support the industry in investigating how a compliance fee might function.

Many of these requests have already been championed by the industry, through PRN reform consultations. The challenge now is to ensure the government embraces change in the short term, while long-term solutions continue to be delayed.

What does the future look like?

Yet again, we come back to the disappointing truth that outdated systems are holding back recycling rates. We’ve seen it numerous times in numerous places and the PRN system is just another casualty.

With the ambition of driving toward 100% recycling rates in the UK, we need change, and soon! The way forward is clear and the benefits are plentiful. The final piece in the puzzle is to secure the backing of Defra to drive national change. �

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Fast run-up and stable operation are key for the successful commissioning of your plant. We can use the digital twin of your plant to run our 3D simulations and test the entire automation hardware and software prior to installation on site.

Digital twins perfectly fit into our lifecycle services approach because we use it to also train your future operators upfront and can o er extended remote support for commissioning or performance improvements.

Global lessons for American aluminium security

By Joe Quinn*

The U.S. has made important strides in untangling our economy and energy needs from oil dependence, but as we do so, the U.S. and our allies are facing a new existential threat: An increasingly assertive China has worked to dominate the supply chains for the components vital to our unprecedented power to undermine and disrupt crucial segments of our economy, energy infrastructure, and even national defence needs.

A critical example of this troubling trend is happening now in the aluminium industry. Aluminium is critical to U.S. national security, the clean energy transition, and the U.S. economy. For example, aluminium makes up 75 to 80 percent of every plane built today. It is also essential for building armour plates for military vehicles, naval vessels, space and missile components, as well as propellants.

It’s also an increasingly important component in the automotive industry, currently making up more than 10 percent of the average vehicle. That figure will increase in the coming years with the growth in electric vehicle production and continued vehicle efficiency improvements.

Aluminium’s conductivity and relative inexpensiveness – it is 3.5 times less expensive than copper – make it ideal for long-distance electricity transmission. As the United States’ aging power grid requires updating and as we transition to greener technologies, like solar, aluminium will only play an increasingly vital role in making sure homes and businesses can keep the lights on.

But in recent years, domestic production of aluminium has decreased substantially. At the same time, China – recognising aluminium’s strategic importance – began flooding the market, driving down prices and discouraging investment in aluminium production outside of China.

Adopting smart policies that allow the U.S. and other market economies compete with Beijing’s growing dominance in the global aluminium market will be essential to ensuring that we protect our interests and prevent further erosion of our

production capabilities.

In our most recent report, the Centre for Strategic Industrial Materials (C-SIM) at SAFE – a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the realworld deployment of secure, resilient, and sustainable transportation and energy solutions – dives into the strategies and policies that work for aluminium manufacturers globally.

The report, “Global Insights: Energy and Environmental Aluminium Solutions,” also outlines how the U.S. can avoid becoming dependent on foreign entities of concern for our supply of this vital material. Below are some key takeaways for policymakers from C-SIM’s latest report.

The price of aluminium versus the cost of electricity

One major challenge to the viability of the aluminium industry is the availability of abundant, affordable energy, given that the production of aluminium is very energy intensive. That also means the volatility of energy prices can impact the economic viability of aluminium production.

Implementing price pegging strategies would both ensure that utilities share in the profits of aluminium production and protect smelters from cost volatility.

The report looks at the Icelandic smelter Norðurál, which negotiated three longterm contracts pegging electricity rates

to the global market prices of aluminium. This helped protect Norðurál’s smelters from bearing the effects of energy market uncertainty.

There are a couple of nuances that would require tailoring price pegging strategies to the U.S. market, but examples exist.

Alcoa’s smelter in Massena, New York, which has been in operation for more than 120 years, shows how the principles of price pegging can be modified to fit the U.S. economic and regulatory environment. In 2015, Massena negotiated a low-cost energy contract, binding the price of power to future changes in the price of aluminium.

This has allowed Massena to remain operational throughout the last several years, while other smelters closed shop.

Taxing imported aluminium made with coal

As mentioned above, aluminium processing is energy intensive, and one way China manages to keep energy costs down is to use coal fired power plants. This runs counter to global goals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions while allowing Beijing to flood the aluminium market with cheaper aluminium, driving out competition.

Imposing carbon taxes on imported aluminium is one way to level the playing field. Multiple countries have attempted

AUTONOMOUS CHARGING & SKIMMING MACHINES

to incorporate the impact of carbon emissions into their policies. Canada introduced the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change (PCF) which gives each province the ability to set their own carbon taxes under the federal benchmark’s guidance. Because aluminium smelters emit high amounts of carbon, producers face pressure to decarbonise to avoid fees.

Tax breaks and lower energy costs

As the largest cost in aluminium production, electricity is critical to the profitability of a smelter. Energy subsidies can take many forms: governments reimbursing smelter energy costs, foregoing taxes on smelter energy use, state-owned utilities providing below-cost electricity to smelters, or instituting mandates to keep energy prices below-market for smelters.

Energy subsidies are present worldwide in competitive aluminium production. However, because of its deregulated electricity market, the U.S. has limited options for federal subsidies. Even so, pressure is mounting for the federal government to recognise U.S. industry’s

disadvantage and take action to provide affordable electricity for producers.

Coordinating with utilities to help smelters become demand-side energy providers

Another creative policy being considered in Australia and Europe is re-envisioning how aluminium smelters can partake in a distributed renewable energy system. As more renewable sources are integrated into the grid, variability of energy generation will increase; the grid will see higher amounts of supply when the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing. To provide balance to a grid with higher renewable penetration, smelters could be part of a distributed network of energy storage and distribution at strategic times. In turn, they would benefit from lower energy costs.

Tailored policies are key While these four policies have each been effective abroad, some can be more easily applied in the U.S. than others. Price pegging, which is already in use as we saw with Alcoa’s Massena smelter, and

demand-side response are likely to be the most realistic policy options for the U.S.’s political and economic landscape. Similarly, demand response practices can help keep power generation and supply stable during the transition to renewable energy, which is a key priority of the Biden administration.

In the U.S. carbon taxes on coalproduced aluminium may prove an unlikely strategy given past failed attempts in the U.S. to pass carbon taxes on other aspects of the economy.

One thing is clear: aluminium is currently – and will only become more – vital to the United States’ energy transition, national defence, and reindustrialisation. Establishing and maintaining secure access to aluminium and ensuring the global aluminium market is resilient in the face of manipulation by Beijing and others for geopolitical leverage must be priority.

While the U.S. may not implement every policy practiced by other countries, analysing and understanding them paints a larger picture of the market dynamics at play, as well as the challenges U.S. smelters face. �

Joe Quinn leads the Center for Strategic Industrial Materials at SAFE – an action-oriented, nonpartisan organisation committed to transportation and energy policy solutions that advance the economic and national security of the United States, its partners, and allies.

The people behind the Innovation

Innoval Technology Ltd (Innoval) was formed in 2003 by employees from Alcan’s Banbury Technical Centre. Located about half a mile from the same site that, for seven decades, was known as ‘Banbury Laboratories’; the Innoval team has been responsible for some of the most significant technological developments in the aluminium industry. Nadine Bloxsome* and Zahra Awan** visited Innoval Technology, still located in Banbury, to meet and speak with those behind the innovative solutions as the company celebrates its 20th Anniversary. Zahra Awan reports.

History

Aluminium Laboratories LTD. 1938

Although under a different name, Innoval’s history can be traced back over 80 years ago to the startup of Aluminium Laboratories LTD. With turbulent beginnings, due to the original building being requisitioned for “the Ministry for Aircraft Production and the Materials Licensing Board as a centre for the control of aluminium supply for the duration of the war (World War II),” the laboratory faced an exciting, and purposeful, start.

In 1942, a new laboratory was built in Canada to house the head researcher and assist the “rapidly expanding fabrication plant in Kingston Ontario” amid the war.

In 1946, the laboratories were given the go-ahead to resume technical and engineering work at the site in Banbury. At the end of the war, the industry was left with a huge surplus of aluminium. Amongst the many other global responsibilities of the company, the priority was to “identify and develop new peacetime applications for aluminium.” With competitive materials in short supply, aluminium was able to respond to

the demand of peacetime luxuries. Teams were established to encourage the use of aluminium in new product developments. The seeds of aluminium innovation were planted.

At the same time, the Kingston Ontario Laboratory was strengthened by the technical departments of the Toronto and Kingston Works. As a result, a new R&D Laboratory was built at Arvida in 1948. Throughout the years the company had labs located across Europe.

With the rapid developments and increasing demand for aluminium, the company extended its laboratory space in 1954.

The 1960s saw a major step in research technology. With electron microscopy, scientists were able to examine the finer details of material structures and surfaces, enabling a greater understanding of the material, improving their applications.

Later in 1968, Aluminium Laboratories Ltd was renamed Alcan Research and Development Ltd. The company also acquired Delta Metal’s 50% of James Booth Aluminium (JBA) in the UK and completed a full merger of JBA and

Alcan’s U.K. operations by 1970.

Further companies were brought in under the wings of the company. In 1979, a re-grouping of all the R&D resources occurred and were named Alcan International Ltd (Alcan Int.).

“Charged with the responsibility of providing research and development group-wide, Alcan Int. was required to consult with the operating companies in order to establish both its annual budget and its priorities.” [1]

The 1980s also saw a major expansion in the use of computer based mathematical modelling as a research tool, primarily for process development.

In 1982, Alcan merged its UK interests with those of the British Aluminium Company, creating a new wholly owned British Alcan.

Unfortunately, research and technical discoveries were not enough to keep the company’s large enterprise ideal running. Struggling with commercial success, in 1991 the company chose to downsize.

In 2000, after acquiring Algroup, it became apparent that further reduction to the size of the company was needed. As

*Editor, Aluminium International Today **Assistant Editor, Aluminium International Today [1] http://banburyrecollections.co.uk/

“I really like working at Innoval. We are a diverse and dynamic team and I believe we do some genuinely world class work here.”– Prof. Michael Clinch

Lucy Fisher

a result, Alcan Int’s Banbury laboratories was closed in 2003.

Innoval Technology Ltd: A Phoenix from the Ashes

In 2003, employees from the original laboratories brought about the rebirth of a new and improved ‘Banbury Laboratories’. Forming an independent company with some of the original employees from the previous company, and the majority of those from the original rolling team, Innoval was formed.

The company is now under the umbrella of the Danieli Group and employs 23 employees and works with numerous global companies and multiple key players in the aluminium industry. With a wealth of history comes a wealth of knowledge. Innoval takes pride in its history, but perhaps more importantly, it also wishes to ensure that the future is bright.

A Fresh Start

Speaking with the current Managing Director and Senior Consultant: Gary Mahon, Aluminium International Today was given an insight into how the aluminium industry has changed over the last 20 years:

“I’m one of the founding members of Innoval. I joined 20 years ago, back in

2003, and became a director in 2007. I’ve been the Managing Director for the last six years.

Before Innoval, I worked with Alcan International Ltd, at the research and development centre here in Banbury. I worked there from 1989.”

How has the Industry Changed?

“I think there’s a much bigger focus on sustainability. It has come to the forefront of people’s agenda; it’s the first thing that anyone wants to know about and try to improve. Our clients are all trying to minimise their carbon footprint and reduce their emissions, which we can help with.

We still get involved in the traditional research we’ve always done; like developing new products for clients’ specific needs, helping people to improve their operations to get better quality results or operational efficiency from rolling mills, extrusion plants, etc.

But there is no doubt that there’s a much bigger emphasis now on sustainability. One topic of sustainability that really stands out at the moment is life cycle assessment (LCA) and the circular economy. People are only just starting to think now about designing

“The beauty of working for Innoval is that no two days are the same. It’s an exciting time to work in aluminium technology like we do, because we’re involved in so many different projects.

”

– Helen Forrest

Gary Mahon

Helen Forrest

Prof. Michael Clinch

“I do know that fewer and fewer aluminium companies have their own in-house R&D resources. Innoval has is a group of people who have worked in the industry for many years, and have a lot of expertise, which seems to be one of the things that’s missing from a lot of the aluminium companies. I’d say is that we’re a key resource for the industry.”

– Gary Mahon

products with the intention of recycling. Unfortunately, 40 years ago, the industry wasn’t as concerned about sustainable manufacturing. What we must do now is find a solution to the problems we have inherited.”

Innoval Current Projects and Industries

“I view aluminium as an enabler of innovation in many other industry sectors,” says Professor Michael Clinch, Materials Group Leader and Senior Consultant.

Michael discussed some of the latest projects and industries that Innoval is involved in. Honouring their strict privacy and confidentiality agreements, details on specific projects were not disclosed.

How Does Innoval Assist the Aluminium Industry?

“We provide technical support, critical resources and evaluation techniques that allow manufacturers to bring new products to market more rapidly. Our combination of design and development services, backed by analysis that demonstrates the sustainability of the product, provides a valuable service to our clients,” Michael continues.

“We provide a one-stop-shop approach to our customers, whereby Innoval’s extensive industry expertise is backed by a broad range of techniques and access to world-leading research facilities via our partner network. We also give them independent benchmarking, validation and credibility with their projects.”

Why Aluminium?

“Aluminium is an exciting material to work with. There are many examples of

innovation throughout its history, for example the birth and growth of the commercial aviation industry, as new alloys were developed and deployed in aircraft designs and aircraft structures in the last century. Nowadays you look at how aluminium is used in electronic devices, packaging, and all sorts of applications. It’s an incredibly powerful material that allows you to do wonderful things with product design. Its ability to be shaped by different manufacturing methods makes it an attractive and – importantly – an economically viable choice in many market sectors.

What I see going forward, for aluminium, is that increasingly people will turn to it more because of its recyclability and sustainability credentials. I think that’s becoming the currency that we’re going to be trading in more. Instead of asking how strong something is, it’s now a case of how green is my material?”

Construction Considerations

“Construction is one of the main growth sectors for the industry. Aluminium is increasingly being used in flagship architecture and construction projects around the world because because it works on many levels.

If you want to reduce the overall carbon footprint of a new building project, sourcing lower carbon material helps, and one of the best solutions is recycled aluminium. Plus, aesthetically aluminium looks great. It’s got corrosion resistance; it allows you to make challenging shapes and manipulate interesting features for architecture; all the while it looks premium and high end. These are qualities that you don’t often see with other materials, so

the construction market really highlights what a powerful, versatile material aluminium is.

We get involved in the engineering design of components and structures, as well as advising on materials selection. We’re also working on a couple of projects where we’re looking at the development of new alloys, or processes for making traditional materials more environmentally friendly.”

Automotive Applications

“The automotive industry has been a really busy and vibrant area for us in recent years! But we are starting to see some interesting and exciting changes. It has been quite a tough battle trying to displace steel as the traditional material that you build car bodies from. But

“My experience of working at Innoval has been really positive. Bonding with the team and getting to know everyone was easy, and they made it easy. I think it’s a very nice work life balance and it’s a good work culture. Everyone is nice, everyone’s really supportive.

”

- Hashim Sardar

Hashim Sardar

Helen Forrest and Prof. Michael Clinch

now, with the transition towards vehicle electrification, new doors are opening for the aluminium industry.

Lightweighting is an important aspect of electric vehicle (EV) design, and more EVs means a drive for more aluminium. We’ve been actively involved in a number of projects in this area in recent years.”

Packaging Predicaments

“Making packaging more sustainable is a strong focus for us. The recycling of the aluminium beverage can is a great success story already, with increasing amounts of cans being recycled around the world each year. End-of-life used beverage cans (UBCs) are capable of being recycled, turned back into cans, and appearing on the supermarket shelves in as little as 60 days. But we believe there is more to come.

With some of the recent advances in scrap sorting and recycling technology, we are working with our customers and research partners to design alloys and products that are more tolerant to higher recycled content.”

The Sustainability Focus

“The biggest change for me, in the five years that I have worked at Innoval, is how quickly the sustainability agenda has become the most important topic. It was there five years ago, but now it is almost always the first thing anybody wants to talk about.

At Innoval, we’ve always promoted more sustainable use of materials, helping people select the right alloys and design more efficient products. But more recently we have also supplemented that help with lifecycle assessments (LCAs), that help measure progress against your sustainability targets. Our aim now is to assist the industry in the transition to sustainable production and to being a net zero industry.”

Gary Mahon also added his thoughts to the conversation around sustainability:

“The prospect of creating a uni-alloy

beverage can (to ease the process of recycling) was missed 40 years ago. Unfortunately, now that there is an established beverage can manufacturing industry, a major challenge is finding one alloy that can be successfully apply to all components being used today. It seems highly unlikely that such as solution can be implemented economically.

There’s lots of new products being designed right now, an example being aluminium battery boxes for electric vehicles. Currently the solutions being developed by the industry uses multiple alloys and multiple product forms such as castings, sheets, and extrusions. By going down this route we are in danger of repeating the same problems we are now trying to address in the beverage can industry.

We should be thinking about sustainability from the outset, and design products so they’re recyclable from the start without relying on future developments in end-of-life scrap sorting technologies! We’ve got some ideas of our own, to combat this issue.”

When asked: Do you think policy makers, governments and legislation should assist in the transition to sustainable products?

Gary Mahon replied:

“Ultimately, the consumer plays a critical role: the choices we all make will influence what happens. But I think there is also a critical role that government legislation can have, to encourage the right behaviours.

But I think all companies, big and small, realise the importance of sustainability. And they are all trying to address it in some way.”

The Next Generations Innoval’s commitment to training and knowledge transfer

Helen Forrest, Training Programme & Communications Manager at Innoval took the time to discuss the details of the training programmes that Innoval offers.

The Aluminium Rolling Technology Course

“This is our flagship training course which has been running for 18 years and we’ve trained people from 95 different companies around the world!

What started off as an on-site course, with people coming to Innoval for five days, to learn about aluminium rolling, is now also offered as an online course following the pandemic. Still written and delivered by people who have practical hands-on knowledge of aluminium rolling, the online sessions are delivered in 10 half day sessions. The online course means that delegates can take part without leaving their business for a week, and, of course, there are no travel expenses.

This change has worked well and so we have continued to run this online session, as well restarting the in-person ones. Now we offer two online courses and two in person aluminium rolling courses each year.

We found in the last year the in-person training programs are becoming more popular, which I believe is a result of people wanting to network and return to faceto-face interaction. On one of our recent in-person rolling courses we welcomed delegates from 11 different rolling companies so, it was great networking for the delegates. They’re generally technical people, so it’s a great opportunity for them to learn from each other as well as well as from the presenters.”

Dr. Junjie Wang

Innoval continues to invest in its R&D facilities, such as the new Instron universal testing machine

An Introduction to Aluminium Metallurgy

“The other public course we offer, usually in April and October, is our Introduction to Aluminium Metallurgy course. This online course is structured as three half day sessions and it’s exactly what it says it is. It’s an introduction to aluminium metallurgy and it goes through basic metallurgy and heat treatment, as well as a little bit on surface treatment.

It’s perfect for people who are new to the industry or who are metallurgists, but not within the aluminium industry.”

Aluminium Surfaces Training Course

“We are in the process of developing a brand-new Aluminium Surfaces training course. The course is being written by by Dr. Junjie Wang, Consultant and Technical Manager for Surface Science, and his team. We expect this course to go live at the start of 2024. We‘ve had a lot of interest in this already and expect a good reception.”

Other Courses

“We also offer private training courses, and these can be tailored to what a client needs. People might come to us for a training course on making can sheet or making automotive sheet and we can put one together for them.

We have we’ve been working with some industry bodies too, including ALFED, and we’re excited to be delivering some courses on their behalf over the coming months.

Educating Schools

On the subject of training and education, during the conversation with Prof. Michael Clinch, he noted the importance of promoting materials, metals and the aluminium industry as important and exciting places to work. Michael invests

time in supporting advisory boards of various universities, research groups and other engineering institutions, for example in his role as Visiting Professor of Materials Innovation and Sustainability at Loughborough University. He enjoys acting as a source of inspiration and mentor to college age students and those in the early stages of their careers.

“Attracting and inspiring people to come to our industry is still a big challenge for us and for the broader industry. I am also an active member the Institute Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), who do some great work on education and outreach.

My view is that we should start with encouraging more people to be studying the STEM subjects at school. From that, a proportion of those are going to go on and study at university, but we need to raise awareness and promote how important materials and manufacturing are to society. An Engineering career path can provide so many great options for individuals and for industry. But we must consider future generations, in particular highlighting the essential roles to be played and new skills that will be required as we transition as a society, to more sustainable living.

I’m really passionate about education in general and of doing our bit to attract and bring new people into the industry. At Innoval we’ve worked hard to build a great, diverse team and create an environment that promotes fresh ways of thinking. I try to encourage new ideas and mentor a lot of the new starters and coach them as they’re starting out their career.”

Another member of the team, Dr. Michael Kenyon, has also assisted in educating the next generations as a member of the Student and Early Career Committee with IOM3. Innoval made it

apparent during our meeting that they strive towards maintaining and growing the industry for future generations. In fact, they have two engineers training to be one of ALFED’s new Aluminium Ambassadors.

New Faces

We also got to meet with a newer member of the team, Mohammed Hashim Sardar, Materials Technologist. Hashim joined Innoval in 2021 and his path to the materials industry was, in his words, “unconventional.”

After graduating from Design Engineering at Aston University, he went on to open his own business. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, he returned to university following the closure of his business as a result of the pandemic. Studying at the University of Birmingham, Hashim completed a Masters Degree in Materials Science and Engineering. This led him to Innoval:

“I’m feeling really positive, because aluminium has great potential. There is a lot going on in terms of sustainability at the moment”: says Hashim.

Working in the company for two years, Hashim noted that the confidence and trust that the Innoval team had in him meant he was “given an opportunity to work on client projects from the start, instead of being a traditional new starter, and doing a little bit of this or a little bit of that.”

“Each day in the office is different.” This statement was repeated by all those we spoke with at the Innoval office.

Everyone in the company had an aura of respect for the age and history of Innoval. Name dropping Professor Geoff Scamans, more than once, it was clear that no matter the education one may have, learning from those who have lived the developments in the industry would always trump a textbook. For Hashim, working alongside industry legends “is the key to it all.” In a short anecdote, Hashim recalled sitting opposite numerous members of the team “slightly in awe.” But, Hashim emphasised that despite some members being more knowledgeable than others, “everyone is a part of the team, and we are all still learning. Everyone’s advancing together.”

Innoval is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Despite being a new addition to the company, Hashim is aware of his role in the company: “I think that everyone knows that the next generation is now coming in. So, it is vital that we learn from the previous generations to keep the company going. And perhaps in another 20 years you will be sitting here with a new employee, and they’ll be talking about me!”

Left to Right: Sunil Khosla, Senior Consultant; Steve Walton, Senior Process Engineer; Dr Michael Kenyon, Senior Materials Engineer; Dr Lucy Fisher, Materials Technologist; Kyle Smith, Process Group Leader and Senior Consultant.

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The Future of Aluminium

Where do you see yourself, Innoval and the aluminium industry in 10 years’ time?

Gary Mahon: “That’s a good question. I don’t really know the answer to that, other than that we probably won’t be doing the same things we’re doing now.

I say this because if I look back 10 years, we weren’t doing things like life cycle analysis. Nobody was thinking about aluminium foil for Lithium-ion batteries. There will always be new things which will emerge both in the market and services over the next 10 years and we will respond to whatever the market needs.

Things evolve, things always change. And they move forward all the time. I think there will be an emphasis on recycling and the circular economy, no matter what happens because every producer is thinking about the circular economy now.”

Prof. Michael Clinch: “It’s an exciting time to be in the industry. I’ve always had a forward-looking and innovative perspective to the roles in my career, and I get really excited about playing a part in shaping the future. The drive for more sustainable materials, products and

processes is not going away, but we don’t always know what’s coming next. There are things that we can see today, such as how we might embrace and use AI to

our advantage, but come back and ask us these questions in five years and I can guarantee there’ll be a new hot topic that we hadn’t thought of.”

It’s down to us to make a difference.

Sustainable manufacturing starts with great partnerships. A shared vision to make good products that are good for people and good for the planet.

Let’s work together.

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SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS SINCE 1913

Storvik Group takes on the American market

By Gunnar Falkum*

In the 18th and 19th century, thousands of Norwegians left what little they had at home to seek a better future in America. Often, they had nothing more than two empty hands to start with. A totally different starting point then for the Norwegian company Storvik, who in 2022 crossed the Atlantic in order to establish themselves on North American soil as a supplier of cast products and services to the aluminium and process industries based on the American continent. But the aim is exactly the same as the Norwegian settlers back in the day: they want to succeed.

Storvik - who?

It all started 110 years ago, when the young farmer and blacksmith Nils Storvik set up a smithy on his smallish farm in Sunndal, a small village on the western coast of Norway. His work was soon reputed for its quality and after a few years he attracted customers from far and wide. When his son, Endre, took over after WW2 and established the company Storvik Mekaniske Verksted, Endre separated from the farm in the early 1950s and set up his own workshop, he had high hopes to expand the business. Not least because he saw a huge potential in the existing plans to build a huge aluminium smelter in Sunndal, which was to be funded by the US sponsored Marshall Plan. The western Norwegian village was ideal for

aluminium production because of the easy access to massive amounts of hydroelectric power in the area. But it would take another 20 years before the Storvik company was invited in to do repair jobs for the aluminium smelter. When it finally happened, the Storvik company was ready to seize the opportunity.

Third generation

But it was only after the third generation stepped in that the business started to flourish, big time. The two cousins, Nils L. Sande and Nils E. Sande, were in their late twenties when they took charge of

* Author and writer of the book ‘Storvik in 110’

the company in the late 1970s. Nils L. was the administrator and business developer with an economical background, and Nils E. was the engineer who, again and again, excelled in finding practical solutions. The two cousins complemented each other, and they were able to play on each other´s strengths. They both had a brilliant nose for business. The company had grown steadily from the late 1970s, and in the 1980s – with the two young Sandes at the steering wheel – the Storvik strategy changed drastically. The two cousins realised that relying only on the local aluminium smelter made them vulnerable in the long run. But at the same time, they saw that the extensive business they were now doing with Hydro Aluminium Sunndal, was their key to further development. Therefore, it was of vital importance to deliver top quality work for their biggest customer. And they did so well that in the time just before and after the millennium they became the major supplier when Hydro Aluminium Sunndal went through a massive renovation. Storvik got contracts delivering potshells and cast iron and steel products worth millions of dollars. They cooperated very well with the local aluminium engineers and together, they even established improvement groups where their joint expertise resulted in improved solutions both for the reparation of potshells and, more importantly, they were able

Nils Storvik

to improve the quality of cast products used in the aluminium production. The knowledge and expertise they built through this cooperation was vital. They were ready to take the next step. In this period the two cousins showed that they had both the ability and the courage to expand their business way beyond their local playground. Not only at home, but also abroad.

The Czech solution

They had already made several deliveries to other aluminium producers in Norway. Among them was Alcoa in Mosjøen. Now they wanted to extend their activities further. Not only did they want to do business with other Norwegian producers. They knew that they had products that would compete on the international scene. Foreign producers needed their quality products just as much as the Norwegian smelters. In this period, they sometimes exploited their connection with their local aluminium producer, Hydro Aluminium Sunndal. Hydro was also established in several other countries, and in some cases Storvik benefited from good references from them.

One vital key in their strategy was the so called “Czech solution”. After the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic in 1989, Storvik saw an opportunity there and they established close contacts with reputed Czech companies for two reasons: Quality and price. In the Czech Republic they found brilliant producers for cast iron and steel products. As a natural result of this cooperation Storvik established their own daughter companies in Prague in the early 1990s. They now knew that they could find reliable long-term partners who could produce the cast iron and steel products with the quality they wanted. And that was exactly what happened. From Czech, they started to supply aluminium producers all over Europe with cast products. This meant that now Storvik no longer relied totally on the local aluminium smelter in Sunndal. But even if they now had diverted their business, they carried on working closely with Hydro Aluminium Sunndal. In fact, closer than ever. These close ties

again and again resulted in improved details on production equipment for the aluminium industry.

become a world player in the aluminium industry – with daughter companies in the Czech Republic and on Iceland as well as in Norway – producing and delivering equipment to the process industry all over Europe and in the Middle East. Storvik´s experience is that the better their new customers learn to know them, the more they want to cooperate. Often a smaller delivery of drain pans to a new customer develops into improving the customer´s total casting process. This comes as a result of the successful cooperation with Hydro Aluminium Sunndal – but in later years also with Alcoa – where they have developed a knowledge base, together, that enabled the optimization of the quality of cast products. Storvik is now the biggest and most important supplier of cast products in Norway and among the top three suppliers of cast products in Europe. At home they have also specialised in repairing potshells to give the shells an “eternal life”. In other words: Very sustainable. This sustainability and the strive for quality have helped them – step by step – to find their way into a number of foreign markets with great success. And now Storvik is ready to take on the American market.

America next

Viking way

One of Storvik´s first successes abroad came on Iceland. This tiny island – with a population of less than half a million people – has three big aluminium smelters. Like in Norway the access to cheap hydroelectric power attracts the aluminium producers. When Storvik addressed the island they found a similar culture to what they were used to, and they were also helped by their existing business connections with Alcoa´s Norwegian plants. So, their visit resulted in major contracts for deliveries of cast iron and steel products to Alcoa, and later they have also delivered cast products to the two other Icelandic aluminium producers Norðurál and Rio Tinto and to Elkem´s ferrosilicon plant. In 2010 Storvik established their own daughter company on Iceland. This is a sales and service company with its own warehouse for storing basic products. The main reason being transport logistics to the island out in the Atlantic. It can sometimes be complicated.

Quality and sustainability

Storviks growth has been based on delivering quality products and quality work. Through three generations the family company of Storvik has gone from forging horse shoes and ploughs to

The Storvik office in the US was opened in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in October 2022. With a location closer to their potential customers, they are sure that they will be able to play an important role as a supplier to the American aluminium producers. Storvik will deliver products and services for the cast house to its client’s doorstep from local stock. This includes (but is not limited to) ingot molds, sow molds, furnace tending tools (tailored to customers’ requirements), dross pans, drain pans, tapping/siphoning tubes as well as more complex metal transfer systems and general technical support and solutions. Most Storvik foundry products have a considerably longer lifetime than solutions offered by their competitors. Storvik´s furnace tending tools show less Fe contamination, keep consistent shape and last up to eight times longer than the most common mild steel fabrications used in general. As a result, clients’ production cost drops, the environment is preserved better, and operators carry out their job better, faster, and more consistently than before.

Storvik has already noted a healthy interest for its products and services on the US market through delivering products directly from local stock to its client’s doorstep. �

Contact: www.storvikgroup.com

Nils L. Sande and Nils E. Sande

Marek Varadinek

The stage has been set for the application industries

Is the aluminium industry ready to face its challenges? Is decarbonisation achievable? And is aluminium the material of the future? These are questions that the aluminium industry clarifies best in dialogue with its customers. For this reason, the ALUMINIUM Business Summit in Düsseldorf is undertaking a change of perspective for its second edition on November 7-8, 2023, and is bringing customers from the most important application industries onto the stage in addition to representatives of the aluminium industry.

“It is important to us to bring industry and customers together for dialogue to ensure that both speak the same language when it comes to the positioning and, above all, the future of the material,” states Yasmin Ouiriemmi, Project Manager of the ALUMINIUM Business Summit at the organiser RX Austria & Germany. The Business Summit is being organised as a future conference jointly by RX (the organiser of the ALUMINIUM world’s

leading trade fair) in cooperation with the industry associations Aluminium Deutschland e. V. and European Aluminium as well as the CRU Group. Decarbonising the footprint of aluminium will therefore be one of the central topics of the event. For the areas of sustainability and the circular economy, the “Circular Valley” initiative, among others, will bring its experts to Düsseldorf. The CRU Group will outline the market outlook in its contributions. The international view is essential, which is also made clear by the keynote speech at the opening of the Business Summit by Bernd Schäfer, CEO of EIT RawMaterials: He will address the topic of raw material scarcity and Europe’s response to it.

Practical examples and also the view from science and research are on the agenda of the second conference day. In addition, the ALUMINIUM Business Summit also offers start-ups a stage to present their ideas and innovations.

“The ALUMINIUM Business Summit is

a proof of the power of collaboration, where different perspectives come together to set the course for a sustainable future for our industry in Europe,” says Paul Voss, Director General, European Aluminium. That this course-setting is urgently needed is also made clear by the industry itself: “The aluminium industry is rapidly developing sustainable products and making steady progress in sustainable production. The companies can and want to do even more. What is holding them back are the framework conditions, above all the unsecured availability of energy in sufficient quantities, in sustainable quality and at competitive prices,” says Philipp Schlüter, CEO of TRIMET Aluminium SE and chairman of European Aluminium. “I have the impression that many are not yet sufficiently aware of the value of our industry and the need to preserve this value. The exchange on the stage of the Business Summit creates attention. And attention is the premise for building awareness,” Schlüter continued. �

Qatalum’s Journey: Sustainability and safety in focus

Becoming a Leading Global Aluminium Smelter. Qatalum achieved notable accomplishments in 2022, has a positive outlook for 2023, and is making progress towards sustainable aluminium production.

Qatar Aluminium Limited (Qatalum) was formed by QatarEnergy and Norsk Hydro in 2006, bringing proven, energy efficient aluminium smelting technology to Qatar. Today, the company is prioritising sustainable operational excellence to deliver its mission and vision. Located in Mesaieed Industrial Area, Qatar, Qatalum is committed to reducing the carbon intensity of its products and pursuing robust safety and sustainability management.

Record-Setting Performance in 2022

Qatalum had an exceptional year in 2022, setting out record highs in terms of financial results and operational performance. This included achieving the highest production volume in Qatalum’s history, approximately 666,000 tons of aluminium products. It was also an exceptional year in terms of Health, Safety and the Environment. The company recorded its lowest ever TRI rate and achieved its goal of zero landfill of byproducts. These results are the based on several iterations of Qatalum’s program of continuous improvement reflecting years of hard work and dedication from its staff and contractors.

Importance of Safety in the Aluminium Industry

Safety has been and continues to be at the core of the Company’s operating

philosophy and the Company places significant efforts on the development of a robust safety culture These efforts are directed towards the company’s ultimate goal of zero safety incidents. Over the last two years, Qatalum has achieved benchmark results with a TRIR of 0.64 in 2022 and 0.32 in 2021. Qatalum’s success in this area can be attributed to increased engagement within operational areas, extensive deployment of lessons learned, and increasing coaching activities from dedicated HSE resources. The company’s Health, Safety, Security & Environment (HSSE) policies are supported by a robust management system framework and a sound safety governance structure, ensuring compliance with applicable legal requirements and international standards.

A key focus area for the Company is on safe operations in the summer months. The Company achieved zero heat stress cases during the year by increasing its heat stress mitigation programs to meet the challenge of the summer. The company’s commitment to safety continues to result in stable and controlled production, a safer working environment and ingrained safety culture throughout the organisation.

2023 and Beyond for the Global Aluminium Industry and Qatalum

The global aluminium industry continues to face significant uncertainty due to a variety of factors such as global macroeconomic

and geopolitical uncertainties, including fluctuations in energy prices and increases in interest rates, which may curb economic activity and impact demand.

While many of the issues faced are out of the industry’s control, Qatalum has sought to mitigate these risks by establishing long-term relationships with its global customers and by providing the highest quality products, reliable supply chain solutions and exceptional customer service.

Sustainable Aluminium Production and Qatalum’s Progress

It is critical to the long-term future of the industry that it makes a commitment to sustainability. Qatalum has made this commitment as reflected in its certification by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global organisation that sets and certifies sustainability standards for aluminium production.

The Company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy reflects the overall ethos of continuous improvement and Qatalum seeks to drive progress in all areas of the business including energy and water efficiency, waste management, lower its carbon footprint and pollution reduction. The company has made significant strides towards producing low-carbon aluminium through the use of recycled aluminium scrap and will continue to prioritise these initiatives in the future �

Assan Alüminyum invests $90M in sustainable development

Assan Alüminyum, a subsidiary of Kibar Holding received a $90 million green loan funding from International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support its multi-year investment program. The company aims to expand further, while helping to fight climate change through reduction of carbon footprint with a series of investments.

Assan Alüminyum bases its activities and investment plans on its sustainability approach of “Producing the Future Without Wasting It”. This is how the company has managed to receive the Performance Standard Certificate from Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), an independent initiative that sets the global framework for sustainability for the whole aluminium value chain.

First Green Loan

While adopting the ASI criteria as its main business principles, the company also worked with its long-term business partner IFC to develop its green finance framework that aligns with the Green Loan Principles and Green Bond Principles. IFC’s financing aligned with Assan Alüminyum’s framework, which establishes clear and quantifiable sustainability targets, as a 100 percent climate investment and granted the company a green loan worth $90 million in the 35th anniversary of

its establishment. With this loan, the company aims to expand its capacity by 60,000 tons annually, while reducing its carbon footprint by increasing its share of renewable energy sources in energy consumption and non-primary aluminium usage in production.

Assan Alüminyum’s General Manager Göksal Güngör states, “We are very happy to have received our first green loan, which is a natural outcome of our commitment to sustainability, one of our core values at Assan Alüminyum, among reliability, flexibility and innovation. With our sustainability-oriented approach and the green financing support we have received, we aim to strengthen our adaptability to the rapidly changing market conditions of Europe, our main export market. This green loan support will also allow us to become more competitive through improved energy efficiency, while making green financing tools accesible, as these are essential for economic sustainability.

Offsetting Scope 2 Emissions Through Renewable Energy Production

Assan Alüminyum produces renewable energy at its hydroelectric powerplant in Manavgat, almost at an equivalent rate to its annual electrical energy consumption. The company generates and purchases International Renewable Energy Certificates (IRECs) through its clean energy production and is therefore able to fully offset its Scope 2 emissions.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Güngör explains further, “Assan Alüminyum takes both ASI principles and it’s mother company Kibar Holding’s 2025 Sustainability Strategy as valuable guides to become more and more sustainable in the future. We are aware of our responsibility for this world and for our future generation. Our social sustainability-oriented social responsibility projects are also specifically developed to

Göksal Güngör

contribute both to our local communities and to the environment.”

Assan Alüminyum has been collaborating with Kocaeli University for a 3 years on its Biodiversity Preservation Project. The Biology Department of Kocaeli University identifies endangered endemic species specific to close-by regions, and helps propagate them and eventually save them from going extinct. So far the Amsonia Orientalis plant, also known as the Blue Star, has been saved from extinction. The Project continued with the Pancratium maritimum plant, also known as the Sea Daffodil, where the plants have been reintroduced into nature with a success rate of over 90%.

Award-winning Sea Daffodils Project

In addition to the reviving of the sea daffodils, the company became the main supporter of the “Sea Daffodils” theater play, which describes the fragile nature of marital relations, through metaphors of the destructive impacts of human’s on the environment and the fragile nature of the sea daffodil. With its comprehensive approach to social responsibility, by contributing to both social and environmental sustainability,

this project won national and international communication and business awards, such as a bronze Brandverse Award in the “Social Responsibility and Sustainability” categories, as well as a Bronze Stevie Award in the “Sustainability Initiative of the Year” category.

Prioritising Gender Equality

The company, as well as the Kibar Group, prioritize gender equality both in their day-to-day activities and corporate social responsibility projects. The Kibar Group has begun its “We Are Equal” project, which aims to strengthen the sense of equality among employees within the group. Assan Alüminyum also sponsored the Women’s Cooperative of Manavgat, helping them establish an industrial kitchen, where women could become financially independent and contribute to the local economy at the same time. The company also supported the education of 1000 female students through the UNICEF’s “Leader Girls of the Future” project and is the signatory of the UN Women’s Empowerment initiative.

Assan Alüminyum also engages in many reforestation projects, aiming to offset both its own and its business partners’

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environmental impact in many different areas, such as the balancing of emissions in its customer events, customer visits and wooden pallet use. Güngör adds that the company is committed to adopting global sustainability targets as its business principles and to developing more activities and projects that aim to make positive impacts to sustainability. �

Getting to the true core of the matter!

By Dr Steve Offley*

Thru-process temperature monitoring of aluminium slabs and ingots in continuous pusher furnace heat treat processes prior to rolling operations.

Introduction:

Aluminium Flat Rolled Product Market

In today’s manufacturing market, aluminium, being lighter, safer and more sustainable, is increasingly becoming the material of choice. A key player in this market is aluminium flat rolled products. These include sheet, plate and foil. The market size is estimated to be worth USD 114240 million in 2023 with a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period 20232030.

Aluminium flat rolled products are usually manufactured by rolling thick aluminium (slabs, ingots or billets) between rolls that reduce the thickness. Aluminium rolling can be performed cold (cold working), where the rolling process hardens and strengthens the material

through changing the micro-structure, but this may leave the final product brittle. Hot rolling in contrast requires heating of the stock material (hot working) between 260 and 550°C (500 and 1022°F) before being processed through roller mills of decreasing thickness applying force to the top and bottom of the slab. Hot rolling prevents most, or all work hardening and allows the aluminium to remain ductile. The classification of the final rolled product is determined by thickness plate (<0.25 inches / 6.3 mm), sheet (0.008 inches / 0.2 mm to 0.25 inches / 6.3 mm) or foil (< 0.008 inches 0.2 mm).

Aluminium Slab/Ingot Reheat Processing Control

In the hot working of aluminium stock,

the initial cast slab is passed through continuous pusher furnaces to reheat and homogenise at temperatures up to typically 550°C (1022°F). The actual set-point temperature and soak time employed in the process is obviously influenced by the stock characteristics including type of alloy and the physical dimensions of the slab, thickness, and overall thermal mass. Although modern furnaces incorporate sophisticated temperature control methods, often based on intelligent mathematical models, the success of the heat treat programs requires independent validation. The process engineer needs to understand how the furnace program characteristics, unique to each furnace (temperature and time) effect the temperature of the aluminium

*Product Marketing Manager, PhoenixTM Ltd.

slab throughout the complete production heat treatment cycle (passage through the furnace) at different locations within the slab structure (length, width, and depth). Other techniques used for product temperature measurement in process, including furnace contact thermocouples and IR temperature measurement (spot, scanner, or camera) limit temperature to the slab surface and often are restricted to one face of the slab only. To achieve efficient hot rolling, it is critical the correct slab drop out temperature is achieved through the entire slab core.

Validation of Furnace Control Programs – Slab Temperature Profiling Challenge

To validate the performance of the heat treat process, a temperature profile of the slab temperature at different locations within the slab through the heat treat furnace is needed. Historically the temperature profile was achieved using the method of trailing thermocouples. An external data logger would collect

temperature data from thermocouples attached to the slab fed through the furnace during the slab transfer. This measurement approach is not ideal for the following reasons;

� The number of temperature measurement points is limited due to cost and the difficulty of manoeuvring multiple long thermocouples through the furnace

� Due to thermocouples trailing into the furnace it is often not possible to charge slabs behind the test piece, meaning that the trial is carried out in a furnace that is not fully loaded. Temperature data is not therefore an accurate representation of true production conditions.

� Opening and closing of furnace doors may inhibit the use of long thermocouples.

� In the pusher furnace the slab is rotated 90 ° at entry and exit from furnace which creates damage or disconnection risks to the fitted trailing thermocouples.

To eliminate the inherent problems of the trailing thermocouple approach,

the alternative method of thru-process temperature profiling is recommended. As its name suggests the measurement system (data logger) passes through the process attached to the test slab during normal production conditions, measuring the temperature of the test slab using short thermocouples at up to 20 critical points. The data logger is protected from the heat of the furnace by a highly efficient thermal barrier which keeps it at a safe operating temperature. As the monitoring system is self-contained within the test slab, the system is free to travel safely through the furnace without any of the inherent challenges of long trailing thermocouples as part of the standard production cycle within a fully loaded furnace.

Thru-process Temperature profiling system design

PhoenixTM Data logger Range

At the heart of the monitoring system is the data logger designed specifically for use in the hostile heat treat environment. Data loggers can be provided in a

Fig 2. Aluminium slab thermal barrier showing (1 & 2) dual data logger tray within water tank and (3) filler and exhaust pipes and (4) slab mounting points

Fig 3. PhoenixTM System embedded in aluminium slab/Ingot (1) - stainless steel cover to protect from high velocity air flow in furnace (2)

Fig 1. PhoenixTM PTM1220 20 Channel high temperature data logger shown in data logger barrier tray with IP67 thermocouple compression fittings ideal if water spray quenches are employed

variety of configurations to suit the specific demands of the process being monitored. Models ranging from 6 to 20 channels can be provided with a variety of thermocouple options (types K, N, R, S, B) to suit measurement temperature and accuracy demands (AMS2750 & CQI-9).

The loggers can be offered in either standard <80°C (176°F) or high temperature operating temperatures

(Barrier Core Temperature <110°C (230°F) variants to allow use of either standard thermal barrier designs (Dual Phase - Heat Sink) or high performance (Phased Evaporation – Water Tank) as recommended for use in the demanding aluminium reheat pusher furnace monitoring application.

Although thermally protected by the thermal barrier, the operating temperature

of the data logger during transfer through the furnace will increase up to the safe maximum operating conditions (100°C (212°F) in evaporative water barrier). The data logger temperature change, which would normally affect the thermocouple reading, is automatically compensated for using an accurate internal temperature compensation feature protecting the measurement accuracy in process.

Built to cope with hostile industrial environments the IP67 logger is capable of managing even the most demanding processes where water spray quenching may be necessary.

Provided with Bluetooth wireless connection for short range localised download and reset (direct from within the barrier) the logger memory of 3.8M allows even the longest slab reheat processes (20 hours) to be measured with highest resolution to deliver the detail you need. An optional unique 2-way telemetry package offers live real time logger control and process monitoring with the benefits detailed in the later following section. Fig 1 and 7.

Fig 4. PhoenixTM System schematic showing exploded thermal barrier configuration with slab mounting frame (1) Thermal barrier photo positioned on frame (2) Thermal barrier with fitted protective high velocity air cover.

Fig 5. Left and right. Test Slab with installed monitoring system being loaded into the furnace (1) and schematic showing rotation steps (2).

Fig 6. Test Slab with thermocouple channels routing MI thermocouple cable to point of measurement at the desired depth (channel 1-8).

Thermal Barrier Design

Heat treating a 30 tonne 600 mm / 24 inch thick aluminium slab requires significant heat to achieve homogeneity. Processes are typically therefore up to 20 hours at 500°C / 932°F and as such the thermal barrier used to protect the data logger needs to be very efficient but at the same time be compact enough to allow safe installation within the slab.

For such process the recommended thermal barrier design is based on a dual phased evaporation technology. The high temperature data logger operating safely at temperatures up to 110°C / 230°F is housed within the dry cavity of a water tank. Data logger sealing options within the thermal barrier are available including IP67 compression fittings, recommended if water spray quench steps are employed in process (Fig 1). During transfer through the furnace, the water heats up to its boiling point at 100°C / 212°F and then maintains the temperature as water phase changes from liquid to gas (steam). The rate by which the water temperature in the tank rises is further controlled by an outer skin of microporous insulation, which helps reduce rapid temperature changes and associated risk of distortion problems for the thermal barrier structure.

The exact thermal barrier protection is governed by the capacity of the water tank. When specifying the correct thermal barrier design often there is a fine balance between maximising the size of the water tank and volume of water available to the outer dimensions of the thermal barrier suiting the size of the slab being monitored.

A feature of the pusher furnace design is that the slab is rotated at the entrance and exit of the furnace to maximise loading capacity. The rotation of the slab (Fig 5) and therefore also thermal barrier could create problems with water loss and deterioration in thermal capacity. The water tank construction is designed therefore in a unique way to orientate

water filler and steam exhaust pipes to minimise water loss during any rotation step.

Fitting the monitoring system to the test slab

Generally, a test slab is prepared by machining a portion out to accept the monitoring system with the thermal barrier often positioned centrally and in a position where it will not impede any equipment used to load / unload the slab (Fig 3). Bolts securing the thermal barrier to the slab should be of a sufficient depth and diameter to ensure they don’t break away from the hot aluminium as the slab rotates at the furnace exit.

The assembled monitoring system fitted within the slab cavity is covered with an external metal shield (Fig 3). The shield has two purposes to firstly protect the thermal barrier from high levels of heat transfer from high velocity hot air convection and maintain air flow patterns over the slab itself to maintain normal production heating conditions.

Thermocouple Placement

Temperatures within the slab are measured from the tip of the mineral insulated thermocouple as shown in figure 6. To position the tip at the exact location / depth within the slab pilot holes need to be drilled in the slab. Depending on the type and diameter of thermocouple to be used, aluminium bushes may need to be used as guides. If a small diameter thermocouple is used, for example a 1.5mm 1/16 inch diameter mineral insulated type, then it would be impractical to drill a small hole say 300mm / 11.8 inches deep to the measuring point. In this case a large diameter hole can be drilled, and bushes used. It is essential that the thermocouples are firmly secured to the slab as they travel from the data logger to the measuring point. Often the thermocouples are channelled along groves in the slab surface so that the cables are confined within the slab eliminating snagging risks in the furnace, or on charging / discharging the equipment.

Fig 8: Temperature profile graph showing the temperature variations within the aluminium slab core over the entire heat treat process. Soak times at critical temperatures can be accurately calculated to ensure that drop out temperatures and rolling operations are performed correctly.

Fig 7. Left and right. Installed system on slab showing (1) RF telemetry Antenna and (2) portable RF repeater unit transferring live temperature data direct from furnace back to (3) RF coordinator linked to the monitoring PC

The Future Aluminium Forum is set to return and will take place in Istanbul on the 21-23 May 2024.

The Forum was originally developed to explore the transformational impact of digital technologies in the aluminium manufacturing processes and by hosting this next edition in Istanbul, we will be looking to uncover the potential to revolutionise the industry in Turkey and the surrounding regions.

By bringing together major aluminium manufacturers, suppliers of digital and sustainable technologies, and industry experts, the Forum aims to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing, paving the way for a more e cient, sustainable, and competitive aluminium sector.

INTERESTED IN EXHIBITING OR SPONSORING?

Please contact Nathan Jupp, Commercial Sales Director

+44 (0)1737 855 027 nathanjupp@quartzltd.com

FOR SPEAKING ENQUIRES

Please contact Nadine Bloxsome, Content Director

+44 (0)7778 688 035 nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

FutureAluminiumForum.com

Real Time Communication

Conventionally profile data collected during the test is downloaded to a PC running analysis software post run. Alternatively, it is possible to collect data in real time live utilising an RF telemetry option. The data logger is available with a unique 2-way RF system option allowing live monitoring of temperatures as the system travels with the product through the furnace. Furthermore, if necessary using the RF system it is possible to communicate with the logger, installed in the barrier, to reset/download at any point pre, during and post-run.

Provided with a high performance ‘Lwmesh’ networking protocol, the RF signal can be transmitted through a series of routers linked back to the main coordinator connected to the monitoring PC (Fig 7). The routers being wirelessly connected are located at convenient points in the process to capture all live data without any inconvenience of routing communication cables as needed on other commercial RF systems. The operator from the convenience and comfort of his control room / office can see what is happening in the process live. For a 20 hour slab reheat

process, such live data gives the operator confidence that process is working in real time, without that nervous wait with a non-RF system to download from the logger at the end of the run.

In many processes, there will be locations where it is physically impossible to get a RF signal out of the furnace. With conventional systems this results in process data gaps. For the PhoenixTM system this is prevented using a unique fully automatic ‘catch up’ feature. Any data that is missed will be sent when the RF signal is re-established ensuring in most applications 100% in-process data review.

Handling the Data

The result of the thru-process monitoring step is the invaluable temperature profile graph (Fig 8). The profile graph represents a thermal fingerprint of what temperatures the aluminium slab achieved through the process at the selected locations over the slab foot print and at specified depths within its core. The profile data can be interrogated in detail to fully understand the heat treat operation at the critical product level and be used to control, optimise and

validate the furnace operation. Such data is essential to accurately set-up and verify mathematical model predictions used to control the furnace operation and ensure that the process is run efficiently to save energy, improve productivity and reduce carbon emissions.

Conclusion

Thru-process product temperature profiling is an accurate and efficient method to measure aluminium slab internal core temperatures in pusher furnaces prior to hot rolling operations. Product temperature information gleaned helps to ensure that the correct thermal balance is achieved efficiently throughout the product thickness. Non-homogeneous temperature conditions can be prevented that would potentially cause variation in downstream processing and compromised final product quality, ultimately leading to energy wastage, higher costs, and rejections. �

Contact: www.phoenixtm.com

Aluminium International Today is dedicated to the production and processing of aluminium. It contains a digest of global news, events, and statistics as well as more detailed technical articles, company and country profiles, conference reports and regular regional economic briefings.

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13th GAC DINNER

1st November 2023

Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort Dubai, UAE

The GAC, hosts the occasion in partnership with the regional and international organizations.

State-of-the-art refractory repair product to the US market

State-of-the-art refractory repair product to the US market

Calderys is an expert in specialty bricks, refractory monolithics and casting. Its patented ALKON® SOL CAST HT is a specialty product that pushes the limits of the refractory process operation in harsh environments, with significantly less drying time. Now, the company is excited to add this to its US product portfolio.

www.calderys.com

Earlier this year, Calderys joined forces with HWI (HarbisonWalker International). Now known as HWI, a member of Calderys, it has become the brand for the Americas region of the Calderys Group. Together, they form a leading global provider for industries operations in high temperature conditions. The Group specialises in thermal protection for industrial equipment with a wide range of refractory products and advanced solutions to enhance steel casting, metallurgical fluxes, and molding processes

This combination opens up exciting new opportunities. Among these is making Calderys’ wide product portfolio available to the North American market through HWI. One such product is ALKON® SOL CAST HT.

For aluminium customers, and re-melters in particular, operating in harsh environments has been a longstanding issue. Melted, liquid aluminium greatly affects the inside contact areas of refractories through thermal shocks, flame effects and mechanical wear.

ALKON® SOL CAST HT was developed specially to help customers save time spent on refractory relining and repair work. Using a sol binder reduces drying times from around six days down to 24-48 hours.

Marc Palmisiano, Application Specialist in Aluminium at HWI, believes SOL CAST is well-positioned to settle in among HWI’s pre-existing product portfolio: “HWI’s bread and butter in North America is our strong brick portfolio, with the ALCOR and DV-38 phosphate-bonded brick brands currently being our best options for aluminium. We see SOL CAST as being a strong complement to these brands.”

Compared to phosphate-bonded brick, cement as a refractory material is a weak link in terms of corrosion through proximity to aluminium alloy, an issue that can be addressed by HWI and Calderys’ combined product portfolio.

“Phosphate-bonded brick has no cement and ALKON® SOL CAST HT has no cement – so this removes the weak link,” says Marc, adding that SOL CAST has further applications for addressing a growing trend in the industry.

“More and more North American customers are using flux to help melt aluminium faster. The aluminium-resistant and cementfree properties of SOL CAST further give you a product that is resistant to corrosive attack from flux.”

As noted, one of the biggest draws for SOL CAST is its potential to decrease dry-out time, thereby increasing refractory process turnaround. Marc points out that where cement-bonding is advantageous for the dry-out, cement is still more susceptible to damage than brick.

“Typically, brick is being used because of high temperature or high flux, because of some process that attacks cement,” explains Marc. “We see that North American companies are increasingly using much more flux in their furnaces – so previously successful solutions are no longer working.”

If you were to use bricks without SOL CAST, Marc continues, the roof and upper wall of the furnace would still be bonded with cement. This would limit dry-out time compared to the brick and SOL CAST combination, inhibiting turnaround, and increasing wear and damage to the refractory interior.

Overall, Mark sees SOL CAST as a strong addition to the combined product portfolio of the Group, and he’s excited at the chance to bring it to a US market:

“For customers in the high temperature refractory space, this is set to be a must-try solution. If you’re looking for the absolute best in flux resistance, if you want rapid dry-out time and you want an overall excellent complement to phosphate-bonded brick, this is the product you’ll want.” �

©Calderys I Calderys has been providing Aluminum producers with refractory solutions for decades.

HWI YOUR WORLD-CLASS ALUMINUM ALLY

Calderys and HWI have joined forces to create a leading global solutions provider. HWI is now known as a member of Calderys, and is the brand for the Americas region of the Group.

MEET OUR TEAM AT ALUMINUM USA, BOOTH N°426 AND DISCOVER OUR EXTENSIVE OFFER TO ALUMINUM PRODUCERS

• ALKON® SOL CAST HT: reduces dryout time, withstands high temperature and corrosion

• ALKON® GUN P: the bauxite based phosphate bond gunning mix offers versatile and high speed installation

• HYMOR 80 AL: the high density medium cement castable offers high mechanical & abrasion strength and resists to aluminium corrosion

• ALCOR: Industry standard phosphate bonded brick for use anywhere in contact with molten aluminum

• GUNTECH 65AL: Mullite-based, cement bonded gunning mix for aluminum, extremely user friendly for installers

• ARMORTECH 65AL C: High density, mullitebased castable with aluminum corrosion performance equal to 80-85% alumina products

ALUMINUM USA. October 25 – 26, 2023.

America‘s largest aluminum event covering application industries such as automotive, aerospace, construction, packaging and electrical & electronics.

For more info on exhibiting or attending visit: aluminum-us.com

Every step matters on the path to zero

To continue developing modern society, we need more materials, and we need more from our materials, too. What we produce and consume must not only meet the surging demand, but also embody the principles of responsible sourcing, environmental consciousness, and recyclability.

Aluminium, with its infinite recyclability and corrosion-resistant longevity, is already a building block for a low-carbon, circular economy, but production comes with a footprint. Our recycled and low-carbon aluminium products are one step closer to solving that problem, and one step closer on the path to zero.

Choose your materials with the future in mind. Visit hydro.com/path-to-zero to learn more.