By Sam Wagstaff, Oculatus Consulting. For five days on June 15–19, a meeting room in Düsseldorf, Germany, held an unusual concentration of casthouse knowledge (Figure 1). Forty-one participants—operators, metallurgists, plant engineers, and technology suppliers—gathered for the TMS Aluminum Cast Shop Science and Technology Course, and when their experience was tallied alongside that of the instructors, […]
By John Peterman, Gillespie & Powers, Inc. In March, my marketing team made a simple post on the Gillespie & Powers, Inc. LinkedIn page celebrating aluminum recycling for Global Recycling Day. After all recycling is one of our core markets. Then, a mining and metallurgical advisor from Brazil responded to that post, pointing out that […]
By Duncan Crowdis, Alexandria Industries and the Aluminum Extruders Council’s Workforce Development Apprenticeship Initiative. The shortage of talent and skills in the North American manufacturing sector is not new. The challenge has been growing and is well documented. According to research by both The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, out of a forecasted need for 3.8 […]
Sortera Technologies, Inc. started up and achieved full operation of its second state-of-the-art scrap processing facility in Lebanon, TN, which is located in the heart of the Southern U.S. automotive manufacturing corridor. Utilizing Sortera’s proprietary AI-driven sorting technology, the facility will transform mixed-alloy scrap into high-value aluminum scrap for the automotive, construction, and aerospace industries. […]
The U.S. has seen heavy investment in secondary aluminum recycling capacity in recent years in order to address increased demand for low-carbon aluminum products. With secondary production accounting for 84% of total U.S. aluminum production in 2024 (representing 3.6 million tons of the 4.27 million total), this trend is likely to continue. However, this growth […]
General Motors (GM) is introducing a new bumper system comprised of recycled aluminum in its Cadillac OPTIQ electric vehicle (EV). This marks one of the first U.S. implementations of Hydro CIRCAL, which is independently verified by DNV to have 75% post-consumer scrap, in a structural, safety‑critical automotive application. “Michigan built the automotive age,” said Duncan […]
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By J.P. Weiler, Meridian Lightweight Technologies, Inc. Magnesium alloys have historically been associated with lightweighting applications in automotive and aerospace systems due to their low density, high specific strength, dimensional stability, and castability. The use of magnesium alloys in transportation systems expanded significantly during periods of increased emphasis on fuel economy and vehicle mass reduction, […]
By Alton Tabereaux, Contributing Editor. The global energy transition, electrification of vehicles, and increased demand for computing power in the wake of artificial intelligence (AI) have led to increased demand for batteries, advanced semiconductors, secure communications, next-generation aerospace platforms, and other components. In turn, this has resulted in increased demand for rare earth elements (REEs), […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. Heavy duty trucking is essential for shipping and delivering goods and materials to manufacturing plants, retail stores, and consumers, representing 70% of all freight in the U.S.1 Unfortunately, it is also inherently carbon intensive. According to MIT Climate Portal, 65% of global freight emissions are generated by road vehicles, […]
