Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Podcast: Meeting manufacturers’ demand for recycled aluminum with new, sustainable technologies

July 30, 2024

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, we examine the benefits, limitations, and challenges of recycling aluminum parts.

Robert Brooks

Engin Kılınç is a professional engineer with extensive experience in the automotive industry, specializing in aluminum casting operations and recycling technologies. Currently, he serves as the foundry manager at Habaş Group in Kocaeli, Türkiye, overseeing installation, commissioning, and optimization of high-pressure and low-pressure casting machines for passenger vehicle production. He recently wrote an article for Foundry Management & Technology titled “Advances in Aluminum Recycling for Metalcasting.” In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Robert Brooks, editor in chief of Foundry Management & Technology and American Machinist, shares Engin’s thoughts on how growing demand for aluminum for automotive and aerospace manufacturing is altering the industrial system for recycling those materials.

Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

The recycling of light metals, particularly aluminum from End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs), is crucial due to their high market value and significant demand in the automotive supply chain. Currently, automotive applications account for 40-50% of all aluminum scrap consumption, primarily in the form of castings. This study examines the trends and challenges associated with aluminum recycling in the automotive sector, with a focus on optimizing the reuse of scrap aluminum to meet future demands.

Aluminum is a vital material in automotive manufacturing, offering benefits such as weight reduction and enhanced fuel efficiency. The high consumption of secondary aluminum in automotive applications is driven by the demand for castings that can accommodate higher alloying element specifications.

However, the rising use of wrought aluminum alloys presents a potential challenge: the automotive industry may produce more scrap than it can consume. This excess scrap could flood the market, driving down prices and creating a surplus that must be managed effectively.

Challenges in scrap utilization. The major challenges in using aluminum scrap include the varying compositions of wrought and cast alloys, impurity control, and the limitations of current recycling technologies. Impurity levels above 0.10% Fe are unacceptable for high-toughness aerospace alloys, and high-performance automotive alloys restrict both Si and Fe. The typical compositions of recycled metal show significant variations, complicating the recycling process. For instance, impurity accumulation in recycled streams poses a compositional barrier necessitating strategies to maintain high recycling rates and meet future demands efficiently.

Trends and development. In North America, aluminum shipments for passenger cars and light trucks were expected to grow to 6.4 million pounds by 2009. This growth, coupled with stringent compositional limits for wrought alloys, could hinder the automotive market's ability to reuse its scrap under current practices.

An analysis of aluminum usage and scrap availability from 2003 to 2013 indicates that more scrap would be available than could be consumed, highlighting the need for improved recycling strategies.

About the Podcast
Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast offers news and information for the people who make, store and move things and those who manage and maintain the facilities where that work gets done. Manufacturers from chemical producers to automakers to machine shops can listen for critical insights into the technologies, economic conditions and best practices that can influence how to best run facilities to reach operational excellence.

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About the Author

Robert Brooks

Robert Brooks has been a business-to-business reporter, writer, editor, and columnist for more than 20 years, specializing in the primary metal and basic manufacturing industries. His work has covered a wide range of topics, including process technology, resource development, material selection, product design, workforce development, and industrial market strategies, among others. Currently, he specializes in subjects related to metal component and product design, development, and manufacturing — including castings, forgings, machined parts, and fabrications.

Brooks is a graduate of Kenyon College (B.A. English, Political Science) and Emory University (M.A. English.)