The European aluminium industry has set itself a new target to achieve ‘full circularity’ by 2030 as part of a major new circular economy action plan. Trade body European Aluminium formally launched the new strategy yesterday in Brussels, unveiling plans to ensure all end-of-life aluminium products are collected and recycled efficiently across Europe by the end of the decade.
The new action plan builds on the aluminium industry’s Vision 2050 strategy, which aims to deliver carbon neutrality for the sector by mid-century, and provides a series of policy recommendations designed to boost recycling rates across the sector. The aluminium industry has long touted its central role in circular economy models, highlighting how the metal can be repeatedly recycled using processes that require just five per cent of the energy needed to produce the primary metal.
As such aluminium recycling rates are already among the highest of all materials, with the automotive and building sectors delivering recycling rates of over 90 per cent and three out of every four aluminium beverage cans ending up recycled.
However, the industry maintains there is potential to boost recycling rates further, with the new action plan suggesting half of Europe’s demand for aluminium could be supplied through post-consumer recycling by mid-century. As a result, aluminium recycling could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 39 million tonnes a year by 2050 compared to today, nearly halving emissions from the sectot by 2050 by replacing carbon intensive primary aluminium imports from outside Europe with recycled domestic post-consumer aluminium.
Source: Business Green
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