Imagine trying to un-bake a cake to get the eggs and flour back; that is how hard it is to separate metals in aluminium alloys. Currently, we just melt them down into lower-quality versions, but we are running out of places to use that low-grade stuff. This work creates better sorting tools and new metal recipes so we can reuse high-quality aluminium over and over again.
The shift to electric vehicles is removing the primary market for low-grade recycled aluminium. This creates a massive surplus of scrap that cannot be used in high-quality products due to impurity limits.
A suite of 14 technical solutions including robotic sorting, high-impurity tolerant alloys, and the 'Aluminium HUB' digital platform for industry coordination.
If you are an EV manufacturer dealing with the loss of combustion engine casting demand—this project developed new alloy designs and sorting tech that allows the use of secondary aluminium in high-performance parts. This helps avoid the 260 million tons of CO2-equivalents caused by using primary aluminium.
If you are a scrap processor dealing with mixed alloy streams that can only be downcycled—this project developed robotic assistance and digital sorting to create high-purity recyclate streams. This transforms low-value scrap into premium raw materials.
If you are a profile producer dealing with strict purity requirements for wrought products—this project developed alloys with higher impurity tolerance. This allows you to use secondary resources which are expected to make up 49% of total production by 2050.
Based on available project data, recycling aluminium uses only 5% of the energy required for primary production, which significantly reduces energy-related costs.
The project aims to mature 14 technological solutions up to TRL6, meaning they are moving toward industrial demonstration but are not yet fully commercialized.
Based on available project data, the project creates an 'Aluminium HUB for circularity' to link industry partners, but specific licensing terms are not provided.
The project runs from 2024-01-01 to 2027-12-31, with the goal of addressing the projected surplus scrap of 6 million tons by 2030.
The project focuses on adapting production methods and using robotic assistance and digitization to fit into existing value chains.
The consortium is heavily industry-weighted with 45% industrial partners (9 companies), including 4 SMEs. With 20 partners across 9 European countries, the project has a strong commercial footprint, combining 7 research centers and 3 universities to ensure the 14 technical solutions are grounded in industrial reality.
Contact LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH in Austria
Contact us to connect with the RecAL consortium for TRL6 technology transfer.
