Europe needs a new Social Contract for Sustainability and Just Transition

Aluminum scrap in recycled form can have considerable cost savings for producers who have re-melting furnaces to process scrap; this reduces the dependability of virgin metal supplied from traditional primary smelters and increases production flexibility. Aluminum as a material is circular and can be recycled unlimited times without losing its original properties. Economies moving forward should facilitate scrap handling smoothly and efficiently, from end-of-life scrap to reusing scrap during the production stage (in-house scrap). Aluminum can help in achieving circular economy goals. Policies are tailor-made by countries to increase recycling rates, reduce the burden on natural resources such as bauxite, and use lower energy to the tune of only 5%, ensuring CO2 cut-down. Globally, recycling occupies around 20% of the overall primary aluminum production. Primary aluminum contributes 80%, which is set to reduce in the next 5-10 years as recycling constantly replaces primary aluminum due to its many commercial advantages coupled with companies’ target of going carbon-free.

The last few years have been tumultuous for manufacturers, with demand swings, supply chain disruptions from COVID and increasing costs;  new emerging imperatives for manufacturers are agility to meet customer demand, supply chain resilience, increased productivity and sustainability. These imperatives ask to deploy supply chain and manufacturing systems which are demand driven and optimized to ensure the maximum business returns that operational constraints allow.