EMR, a global leader in sustainable materials, aims to revolutionize the aluminum supply chain in the U.K. through its Recycled Circular Aluminium (ReCircAl) project. The innovative research project plans to develop and achieve the requirements for a world leading metals processing facility, which uses recycled aluminum content. ReCircAl recently received support from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) with a £3.4 million grant through its latest collaborative research and development funding round.
“This project represents a landmark moment for the aluminum industry and the automotive sector. By proving that high-performance automotive components can be produced from recycled materials, we are helping to create a more circular vehicle manufacturing industry in the UK,” said Bruce Miller, commercial director at EMR. “The support from the APC enables us to push the boundaries of what recycled aluminium can achieve. This collaboration will not only reduce the carbon footprint of UK manufacturing, but also deliver significant economic benefits, securing future investment and jobs.”
The ReCircAl Project
Led by EMR, the project brings together key players in the automotive supply chain, with knowledge and expertise in the industrial processing of end-of-life aluminum. Constellium, an aluminum manufacturer and automotive Tier 1 supplier, and BCAST at Brunel University of London, an academic metals center of excellence, provide knowledge of alloy development in order to deliver the lowest embodied carbon aluminum billets ever produced to provide a new benchmark in the industry. The project consortium also includes BCW Treatments, an advanced multi-disciplined surface treatment expert, and Riskoa, a digital integration and rapid Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) specialist — with Stellantis, a multi-national automotive manufacturer, acting as a technical advisory group leader on the project.
Alongside EMR, Constellium plays a central role in the consortium, leveraging its extensive expertise in aluminum alloy development, which is crucial to the project’s success. Constellium’s significant contributions to research and development, such as its previous Circular and Constant Aluminium (CirConAl) project, are instrumental in delivering the high-quality recycled aluminum products the project will deliver.
“The APC-funded Constellium-led CirConAl project, together with the consortium partners, has pioneered the use of post-consumer scrap in a range of impurity tolerant alloys,” said Martin Jarrett, technology director of Constellium’s Automotive Structures and Industry business unit, who noted that this provided “the foundation for ReCircAl, which is aimed at developing the end-to-end recycled aluminum supply chain as a strategic resource for low-carbon aluminum production, creating a paradigm shift in the industry.”
ReCircAl supports the development of metal circularity using end-of-life aluminum and its potential to become a net-zero carbon resource for manufacturing automotive components. Through the project, end-of-life aluminum will be processed within the consortium to provide a range of high-strength, impurity tolerant billet. This billet will then be used for the manufacture of structural automotive components designed to meet or exceed the same quality and performance standards as those produced from primary based materials and validated through rigorous qualification protocols established by the OEM partners.
The project will help deliver a more circular, less carbon intensive aluminum manufacturing solution through the creation of a planned facility to produce aluminum extrusion billet with less embodied carbon. This will enable the production of components made from up to 100% recycled aluminum at an industrial scale, which will match the mechanical and durability performance of primary aluminum for the first time. This material can then be used to make various new metal parts. The facility will also use post-consumer metals, replacing the conventional primary based supply and greatly reducing emissions.