Recycling as a hot topic at the Aluminium - World Trade Fair and Conference in Dusseldorf


9 years ago I wrote the first post about The good and the bad about recycled aluminium. Since then recycled aluminium has become a hot topic and this year´s Aluminium - World Trade Fair in Dusseldorf - Aluminium 2018 has dedicated a lot of energy into this subject.

One of the articles in their news room is about recycled aluminium,

RECYCLING: CHALLENGES FOR ALUMINIUM AS AN INDUSTRIAL MATERIAL

A short informative note about challenges, mentioning that there are no qualitative differences between aluminium alloys made from the primary and those made from recycled aluminium.

Is this always true - not really, especially when looking at the result obtained when anodizing aluminium.

Here you have to be aware of the following:

  • Heavy metals
  • Metallurgical structure
  • Traceability
  • Repeatability/Consistency
  • Consistent recycled stock

So it should not be difficult to use more recycled aluminum for anodizing. It only requires a minimum amount of adjustment to arrive at the present alloy composition, which works well for anodizing. So this should not be the reason for not using recycled aluminum when anodizing.

From an environmental viewpoint, anodizing is a very unique process. It does not require the use of organic solvents, which may cause unwanted atmospheric emissions and the amount of sludge can be diminished by using new processes as the acid etch.

Finally anodized extrusions and castings can be readily recycled without the need for special emission control equipment, so no VOC or other hazardous chemicals are emitted to the air.


If you find this article useful and you would like to know more please contact me blog@aluconsult.com 
__________________________________________________