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Improving aluminum recycling: A survey of sorting and impurity removal technologies

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  • Gaustad, Gabrielle
  • Olivetti, Elsa
  • Kirchain, Randolph

Abstract

Aluminum recycling has a number of key environmental and economic benefits. With these energy and cost savings in mind, many producers now have targets of increasing their usage of secondary materials. However, the accumulation of impurities in these recycled material streams may provide a significant compositional barrier to these goals. A growing number of studies and literature suggest that accumulation of unwanted elements is a growing problem; for the case of aluminum, the list of problematic impurities is quite large, including but not limited to Si, Mg, Ni, Zn, Pb, Cr, Fe, Cu, V, and Mn. The removal of unwanted elements in the scrap stream is dictated by the energy considerations of the melt process. Compared to many metals, it is challenging to remove tramp elements from aluminium. Therefore, with no simple thermodynamic solution, producers must identify strategies throughout the production process to mitigate this elemental accumulation. There are a variety of solutions to deal with accumulation of undesired elements; each presents a trade-off between cost and efficacy (tramp removal). Dilution with primary is the most common solution used in industry today; this has a negative impact on recycling as the required dilution results in a compositionally determined cap to recycling rates. This article provides an overview of the expanse of upgrading technologies available at both the industrial and lab-scale to improve aluminum scrap purity and facilitate recycling.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaustad, Gabrielle & Olivetti, Elsa & Kirchain, Randolph, 2012. "Improving aluminum recycling: A survey of sorting and impurity removal technologies," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 79-87.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:58:y:2012:i:c:p:79-87
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2011.10.010
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    1. Hatayama, Hiroki & Daigo, Ichiro & Matsuno, Yasunari & Adachi, Yoshihiro, 2012. "Evolution of aluminum recycling initiated by the introduction of next-generation vehicles and scrap sorting technology," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 8-14.
    2. Julien Pedneault & Guillaume Majeau‐Bettez & Stefan Pauliuk & Manuele Margni, 2022. "Sector‐specific scenarios for future stocks and flows of aluminum: An analysis based on shared socioeconomic pathways," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(5), pages 1728-1746, October.
    3. Ciacci, Luca & Chen, Weiqiang & Passarini, Fabrizio & Eckelman, Matthew & Vassura, Ivano & Morselli, Luciano, 2013. "Historical evolution of anthropogenic aluminum stocks and flows in Italy," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-8.
    4. Niero, Monia & Olsen, Stig Irving, 2016. "Circular economy: To be or not to be in a closed product loop? A Life Cycle Assessment of aluminium cans with inclusion of alloying elements," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 18-31.
    5. Stotz, Philippe Maurice & Niero, Monia & Bey, Niki & Paraskevas, Dimos, 2017. "Environmental screening of novel technologies to increase material circularity: A case study on aluminium cans," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 96-106.
    6. Wan, Bingbing & Chen, Weiping & Lu, Tiwen & Liu, Fangfang & Jiang, Zhenfei & Mao, Mengdi, 2017. "Review of solid state recycling of aluminum chips," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 37-47.
    7. Sabaghi, Mahdi & Cai, Yongliang & Mascle, Christian & Baptiste, Pierre, 2015. "Sustainability assessment of dismantling strategies for end-of-life aircraft recycling," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 163-169.
    8. Simic, Vladimir & Dimitrijevic, Branka, 2012. "Production planning for vehicle recycling factories in the EU legislative and global business environments," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 78-88.
    9. Millet, Dominique & Yvars, Pierre-Alain & Tonnelier, Pierre, 2012. "A method for identifying the worst recycling case: Application on a range of vehicles in the automotive sector," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-13.
    10. Julien Pedneault & Guillaume Majeau‐Bettez & Manuele Margni, 2023. "How much sorting is required for a circular low carbon aluminum economy?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 977-992, June.
    11. Chen, Wei-Qiang & Shi, Lei, 2012. "Analysis of aluminum stocks and flows in mainland China from 1950 to 2009: Exploring the dynamics driving the rapid increase in China's aluminum production," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 18-28.
    12. Pauliuk, Stefan & Kondo, Yasushi & Nakamura, Shinichiro & Nakajima, Kenichi, 2017. "Regional distribution and losses of end-of-life steel throughout multiple product life cycles—Insights from the global multiregional MaTrace model," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 84-93.

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