Aluminum Recycling - Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Aluminum has experienced significant growth in several sectors over the last decade as a result of its properties and performance attributes. Aluminum is being recognized by different sectors such as automotive, construction, aerospace, etc. as a one of the best candidate material for various applications. Increasing demand for aluminum-based products and further globalization of the aluminum industry have contributed significantly to the higher consumption of aluminum scrap for re-production of aluminum alloys. In automotive applications, for example, the opportunities for continued growth in powertrain and suspension applications plus lightweighting of body structures offer the potential for considerable further growth. Today, a large amount of the aluminum going into new products is coming from recycled products. This represents a growing "energy bank" of aluminum that will become available for recycling at the end of vehicles' lives, and thus recycling is becoming a major issue, and it is essential to tackle this problem before it is too late. The future growth offers opportunity for new recycling technologies and practices to maximize scrap quality, improve efficiency and reduce cost. The present paper highlights some of the current development work in recycling, the challenges facing the implementation of recycling technologies and the future prospective of the idea.