All aluminium products can be recycled after use. Its recyclability is one of the huge benefits of using aluminium. Scrap must be of appropriate quality before it can be melted down. To obtain this level of quality, all adherent materials must be removed. Depending upon the type of contamination present, some scrap must be processed; for example, beverage cans must have their lacquer removed prior to remelting.

Once sorted, scrap aluminium is then loaded into a furnace, which melts the aluminium completely. This molten metal is then cast or processed - using the same techniques as primary processing.

All aluminium that is recycled is described as either new scrap or old scrap.

New scrap

New scrap is that surplus material that arises during the manufacture and fabrication of aluminium alloys up to the point where they are sold to the final consumer.

Examples include the trimmings from the edges of sheet aluminium, turnings and millings from aluminium fabrication and surplus extrusion discards. As such new scrap tends to come from the manufacturing industry, is of a known quality and composition and can be processed with very little preparation.

Old scrap

Old scrap is material that has been used by the consumer and subsequently discarded. This can include a wide range of items such as used beverage cans, car cylinder heads, window frames or electrical cabling.

For technical information Aluminium Recycling in Europe

For mass flow information Global Aluminium Recycling

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