conference #alu16 - aluminium recycling essentials by olivier neel

Olivier NéelALUMINIUM 2016 11th World Trade Fair & Conference

November 30, 2016

Aluminium recycling: from Material Flow Analysis to optimal recycling

An introduction to Constellium 2015

Constellium is a leader in innovative aluminium -based solutions

Over 10,000 full-time employees

€5.2 billion in sales

22 manufacturing sites

C-TEC, our world-class Technology Center

Headquartered in Amsterdam , The Netherlands.

Corporate offices in Paris , France, Zurich , Switzerland and

New York , USA

2015 key figures

2An introduction to Constellium 2016


Structured into 3 business units

3

Aerospace and Transportation� € 1.355 billion in revenues� #1 worldwide for aerospace plates� #1 in the USA for large coils

Packaging and Automotive Rolled Products� € 2.748 billion in revenues� #1 worldwide in closure stock� #2 in Europe and North America for can body stock � Major player in auto body sheet: #4 worldwide

Automotive Structures and Industry� € 1.047 billion in revenues� #1 in Europe for large profiles� #1 in Europe for hard alloy extrusions� Joint leader worldwide in Crash Management Systems



The life cycle of aluminium products

4

RecyclingCollecting and sorting

Product design and manufacturing

Product use

Casting/rolling and extrusion

Aluminium smelting

Alumina refining

Bauxite extraction

Aluminium recycling: from Material Flow Analysis to optimal recycling – ALUMINIUM 2016 - O. Néel – 2016-11-30


Challenges arising

5

Increasing focus on a value chain approach (circular economy, life cycle approach,

responsible purchasing...)

Increasing concern on environmental aspects (climate change, water & resources depletion…)

Need for evidence of environmental performance, hence dedicated assessment tools



Tools to assess environmental performance

� Complementary tools are available

� From a PRODUCT perspective

� Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

� Commonly used in many areas

� From a MATERIAL perspective

� Material Flow Analysis (MFA)

� Less widely used, but gaining momentum

� In both cases, recycling is key

6Aluminium recycling: from Material Flow Analysis to optimal recycling – ALUMINIUM 2016 - O. Néel – 2016-11-30


Life Cycle Assessment (LCA):environmental impacts from a product perspective

Examples of impact categories

Water (use, eutrophication, acidification…)

Air (ozone layer depletion, acidification, smog)

Land (use, deforestation, acidification…)

Resources depletion

Ecosystems or Human Toxicity

Energy (total, from non renewable sources…)

Global warming (greenhouse gas –GHG - emissions)

Life Cycle Assessment summarize environmental impacts of a product throughout its production, usage and end-of-life (incl. recycling) phases



0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Glass Steel Copper PE PP Primary Al RecycledAl

GH

G e

mis

sion

s (k

g C

O2

eq. /

kg)

8

LCA: effect of aluminium recycling on greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions

Recycling is the cornerstone of Aluminium Sustainab ility

Primary Al GHGImpact is highest

Recycled Al GHGImpact is lowest



0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Climate change [g CO2 eq. / can]

Effect of recycling rate for an aluminium beverage can

2020 European target

Actual result for2013 recycling rate

Including Can manufacturing.



0,00E+00

1,00E-04

2,00E-04

3,00E-04

4,00E-04

5,00E-04

6,00E-04

7,00E-04

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Terrestrial acidification [kg SO2 eq.]

0,00E+00

5,00E-06

1,00E-05

1,50E-05

2,00E-05

2,50E-05

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Freshwater eutrophication [kg P eq.]

0,00E+00

2,00E-06

4,00E-06

6,00E-06

8,00E-06

1,00E-05

1,20E-05

1,40E-05

1,60E-05

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Marine eutrophication [kg N eq.]

0,00E+00

2,00E-04

4,00E-04

6,00E-04

8,00E-04

1,00E-03

1,20E-03

1,40E-03

1,60E-03

1,80E-03

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Ecotoxicity [kg 1.4-DB eq.]Freshwater ecotoxicity[kg 1.4-DB eq.]

Marine ecotoxicity [kg1.4-DB eq.]

Terrestrial ecotoxicity [kg1.4-DB eq.]

Effect of recycling rate on other indicatorsExcept for one, clear positive effect.

10

Rare casewhere recycling doesn’t reduce

impacts.



Material Flow Analysis principle (MFA): mapping material flows along the life cycle

11

Building

Rolling

Wire

Extrusion

Casting

Packaging

Cable

Transport

Other Appl.

Recycling

In Use

Primary Aluminium

End ofLife

ManufacturingSemi-production



Material Flow Analysis: Constellium approach

� Existing work from International Aluminium Institute (IAI)

� European model

� Applications, lifetime & recycling rates included

� Allows for estimate of future recycling flows

� Need for a more detailed model to better understand recycling flows

� Location

� Composition

� Developing a more detailed model

� Finer geographical granularity: down to countries

� Split into alloys families

� Design allowing for scenarios (parameters can vary with time)



Constellium MFA model:System boundaries & data categories

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Different data categories:

This complexity is necessary:

• Understanding of scrap flow composition (alloy, origin, location) and volumes contributes to recycling strategy.

31 countriesEU27 + Turkey +EFTA)

4 Semi-ProductsExtrusion / Rolling / Casting / Semi-other

AutomotiveCar

TransportationRail Marine

AerospaceCommercial

Space

PackagingCans

SkylineBuilding

House

12 product categories 10 alloys family



MFA first use: why we will still need primary metal

14

Ann

ual c

onsu

mpt

ion

in E

urop

e (t

)

0

2 000 000

4 000 000

6 000 000

8 000 000

10 000 000

12 000 000

14 000 000

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Average product lifetime: ≈ 20 years

Available for recycling today

Production20 years ago

Source: European Aluminium



More detailed MFA results: recycling flow depends on recycling rate & lifetime :

15

2015 European production and end-of-life flows by application domain

50 y. lifetime

< 1 y. lifetimeNo EOLrecycling



If we were to consider recycled content for LCA

VS.Can 1 Can 1

16

LCA could possibly show this to be « greener », is it

correct?



MFA can help getting a more relevant picture

VS.

Average recycled content for every product

One product getting more doesn’t change the overall environmental impacts, as others get less

Can 1 Can 2 Can 3 Can 1 Can 2 Can 3

17

MFA shows that it doesn’t improve the big picture…



Example of MFA use: Evolution of Automotive EOL scrap vs. castings dema nd

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In the long run, EOL scrap may exceed demand



Conclusion and perspectives

LCA & MFA are complementary tools to assess environmental performance

� LCA can assess the benefits for recycling from a product perspective

� Evaluating where efforts are most needed to improve a products life cycle

� Calculating how recycling helps avoiding environmental impacts

� MFA provides insight on key issues from a material perspective

� Detailed timeline and composition of recycling flows

� Sustainable material flows implies

� EOL recycling is a sound performance indicator

� Need for better sorting in the future

� Selecting the most efficient way to sort by addressing the right flows.


THANK YOU!


Visit us: www.constellium.com

conference #alu16 - aluminium recycling essentials by olivier neel

Environment