Recycled Aluminium Alloys That Replace Scarce Raw Materials for Electric Vehicle Parts

Making lightweight aluminium parts for electric cars requires rare and expensive metals that mostly come from a handful of countries — a risky supply chain. SALEMA figured out how to swap those scarce ingredients for common ones and use recycled scrap metal instead of mining fresh material. They tested this across four real factory processes — die casting, stamping, and extrusion — and proved it works with actual car parts. Think of it like a chef replacing an high-priced imported spice with a local alternative and getting the same great dish.

What needed solving

Electric vehicle manufacturers depend on critical raw materials for high-performance aluminium alloys — materials with volatile prices and concentrated supply chains that create both cost pressure and geopolitical risk. As EV production scales up, this dependency becomes a bottleneck. Manufacturers need aluminium alloys that perform just as well but use commonly available elements and recycled scrap instead of scarce imports.

What was built

SALEMA produced new aluminium alloys using recycled scrap and common alloying elements instead of critical raw materials, validated across 4 industrial pilots (HPDC, cold stamping, hot stamping, extrusion). Physical deliverables include laboratory-scale aluminium billets and extruded profiles, 4 new HPDC alloys in 3 variations at 2 tonnes each, and classified large-batch aluminium scrap ready for alloy production.

Who needs this

Who can put this to work

Quick answers

Who built it

SALEMA's 20-partner consortium across 7 countries (Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Turkey) is heavily weighted toward industry — 11 out of 20 partners (55%) are industrial, complemented by 3 research organizations and 2 universities. This is not an academic exercise; it represents the full aluminium-to-automotive value chain, from scrap sorting through alloy production to final car-part manufacturing. The coordinator, FUNDACIO EURECAT in Spain, is a major applied research centre. With 3 SMEs in the mix and 40 total deliverables completed, this consortium was built to move results from lab to factory floor.

• FUNDACIO EURECATCoordinator · ES
• ASOCIACION ESPANOLA DE NORMALIZACIONparticipant · ES
• UNIVERSITE DE LIEGEparticipant · BE
• COMET TRAITEMENTS SAparticipant · BE
• ASAS ALUMINYUM SANAYI VE TICARET ANONIM SIRKETIparticipant · TR
• FAGOR EDERLAN S.COOP.participant · ES
• CENTRO RICERCHE FIAT SCPAparticipant · IT
• RAFFMETAL SPAparticipant · IT
• EUROPEAN ALUMINIUMparticipant · BE
• FORD-WERKE GMBHparticipant · DE
• GESTAMP HARDTECH ABthirdparty · SE
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVAparticipant · IT
• AUTOTECH ENGINEERING SPAIN SLparticipant · ES
• SIEC BADAWCZA LUKASIEWICZ - INSTYTUT METALI NIEZELAZNYCHparticipant · PL
• PROFILGLASS SPAparticipant · IT
• EUROPEAN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION INSTITUTE (ESCI) GGMBHparticipant · DE
• EDERTEK S. COOP.thirdparty · ES