Building the Future With Aluminium

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Building the futurewith aluminium

Recycling of aluminium

building products


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Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. Aluminium in the building sector 4

3. The environmental challenges 8

4. Recycling of aluminium building products 10

5. The recycling process 11

6. Conclusions 14

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1. Introduction

The objective of this paper is to outline the role of aluminium in the building sector

and reiterate the commitment of the aluminium industry towards environmentalprotection and sustainable development. This paper describes the main uses of

aluminium in building products as well as the environmental challenges facing the

industry. Finally, attention is drawn to the impact of aluminium recycling and

description of the process itself.

The aluminium industry has a policy of working closely with the European

Commission and relevant national bodies with a view to contributing to the

development of best practices in this regard. In order to pre-empt possible future

European or national legislation on building products and specifically on

construction and demolition waste, the aluminium industry is actively developing

new technologies and alloys to continuously improve the environmental

performance of its products during their life cycle, including their end of life,recovery, and recycling.

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2. The use of aluminium in thebuilding sector

Aluminium is a product with unique properties, making it a natural partner for the

building industry. Thanks to its characteristics, it has become an essential product

for the building industry and over the past 50 years its use in building applications

has shown continuous and consistent growth.

Growth of building applications

Aluminium extruded, rolled, and cast products are commonly used for window

frames and other glazed structures ranging from shop fronts to large roof

superstructures for shopping centres and stadiums; for roofing, siding, and curtain

walling, as well as for cast door handles, catches for windows, staircases, heating

and air-conditioning systems. Most recently, aluminium has played a significantrole in the renovation of historic buildings. The characteristics and properties of

aluminium as a material have lead to revolutionary and innovative changes in

building techniques and architectural and engineering projects. Aluminium is

leading the way into the future of the construction industry.

1500

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

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0

1960 1970 1980 19951990 1998

'000 tonnes


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Labnan Finance Centre,

East Malaysia

From Spalumic, member of

Aluminium Architecture (F)

Shanghais

Opera House

European Parliament Building

under construction


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Aluminium is a strong, lightweight and recyclable metal

which is used in a variety of applications in construction

recyclability

attractiveappearance

formability

flexibility

design

Exhibition and Conference Centre GlasgowArchitects: Foster and Partners


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creativity

lightweight andstrength

corrosionresistance

durability


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3. Aluminium in the construction industryand its environmental challenges

The construction industry as a whole - builders as well as material suppliers - isfaced with a wide range of environmental issues which must be addressed. These

range from direct impact on climate change (energy consumption and energy

efficiency of buildings); to construction materials (health and safety); and disposal

of waste products (construction and demolition waste). One of the main goals for

the aluminium industry is to improve environmental performance throughout all

life cycle stages of aluminium products.

The aluminium industry has been working in close co-operation with the building

industry as well as with decision-makers at local, national, and European level to

meet these environmental challenges with a view to achieving sustainable

building. Sustainable building is directed towards integrating life-cycle

management which relies on three principles:

reducing the use of raw materials,

improving energy saving and efficiency, and

improving the overall quality and economy of the building process.

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From Technal, member of Aluminium Architecture (F)


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Aluminium meets all of these criteria thus contributing greatly towards the

protection of the environment and the achievement of sustainable building.

With regard to reducing the quantity of raw materials in the construction process,

the use of aluminium substantially reduces the weight of the building structure

resulting in an overall reduction in the use of other building materials. Further, as a

high value material which can be efficiently recycled with no downgrading of its

properties, aluminium is reused time and time again, continuously saving raw

materials.

Aluminium building products can have an almost indefinite life cycle, outlasting

almost every other construction material and low maintenance (only occasional

cleaning is normally required) contributes towards the efficient use of energy and

resources during the lifetime of the building. When, at the end of life, aluminium

products are finally recycled, only a small percentage (approx. 5%) of the original

energy needed to produce primary aluminium is required. These characteristics

mean that when taking into account their complete life cycle, aluminium products

meet the criteria of improving energy saving and efficiency.

Finally, as regards the improvement of the overall quality and economy of the

building process the aluminium industry is actively working to integrate, right from

the conception stage, the recyclability challenge. Aluminium building products

themselves contribute to lighter, longer lasting, and low maintenance buildings.

When at the end of life, the high intrinsic value and low recycling cost of

aluminium contribute to the costs of dismantling and demolition.

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Aluminium products used in the construction sector play a

key role in achieving sustainable building

They contribute greatly to the protection of the environment

in terms of their applications for energy efficiency and

saving, and recycling


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4. Aluminium recycling

Aluminium is a young and versatile material, which, thanks to its unique properties,

has been used successfully in a variety of applications in building construction.From both an environmental and economic perspective, its most significant

characteristic is that it is 100% recyclable with no downgrading of its properties.

In a nutshell, aluminium building products can be remelted and transformed into

billets and ingots for new extruded and rolled products.

In addition to the economic advantages of recycling a valuable metal like

aluminium, the process also has a positive effect on environmental protection.

Indeed the high value of aluminium means that recycling is a natural process with

aluminium building products being segregated from other construction and

demolition waste products and even protected from theft.

Construction and demolition waste products represent a growing challenge for

modern industrial societies. The depositing or incineration of most types of

materials can lead to air, water and soil pollution. This is not the case for

aluminium, which even if inadvertently dispersed in the environment does not have

harmful side-effects. Therefore, aluminium recycling not only has important

economic implications, but also contributes to environmental protection.

Aluminium can be recycled indefinitely

without alteration of its properties

Recycling of buildings products

Separation

Remelting

Extruded and

rolled products

New products

Construction

Dismantling


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5. The aluminium recycling process

Generally, a wide variety of used aluminium is processed by the recycling industry by

use of different remelting processes, depending on the further use of the aluminiumalloy and its composition. Aluminium is remelted into new ingots, billets or slabs

presenting the same composition and performance standards as in the primary alloys.

The complete recycling operation consists of the following steps:

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collection and sorting

remelting and refining


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In the construction and building industry, the recycling process starts with the

dismantling and collection of various elements, e.g. windows, profiles for doors,

curtain walls, roofs, sidings, door handles etc. This is followed by the separation

from different materials such as plastic, iron, wooden components etc. by means

of different technologies.

Aluminium parts are either sent directly to the furnace for remelting or if they have

organic coating or thermal break, then they are treated in a separate installation or

in the melting process into a special two chamber furnace where the remaining

organic material is eliminated with high performance afterburners and filters.

After remelting, the liquid metal is transferred for refining in a holding furnace

where various composition tests are carried out and if necessary alloying elements

are added. Successive phases of degassing and filtering achieve the desired quality

before casting new ingots, billets or slabs.

Afterburners and filters

scrap

two chamber

furnace

holding

furnace

degassing/

filtering


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Aluminium represents an important solution to the

increasing problem of waste generation in modern

industrial societies

View of remelt plant (interior)

View of filtration plant (exterior)


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6. Conclusion

ALUMINIUM: A PRODUCT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

Thanks to its unique properties of strength, durability, corrosion resistance and

recyclability, the use of aluminium in construction products has consistently

increased over the years. Being confronted, together with the construction

industry as a whole, with a broad range of environmental challenges, the

aluminium industry is committed to the achievement of sustainable building.

COMMITMENT OF THE ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY TO SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

The aluminium industry addresses sustainable building at all stages:

Sustainability of the production of aluminium building products

The energy efficiency of the primary aluminium production process is

continually being improved through the development of new technologies and

the upgrading of existing smelters. Bauxite resources, though abundant, areconserved due to recycling of end of life aluminium products.

Sustainability through the use of aluminium building products

The use of aluminium building products makes buildings lighter (less raw

materials), longer lasting, and more efficient through low maintenance.

Sustainability in the end-of life of aluminium building products

With their high intrinsic value, the recycling of aluminium building products is a

natural process contributing to the costs of dismantling and demolition as a

whole. The aluminium industry has in place an efficient, economic and

environmentally sound recycling system which ensures that aluminium is reused

time and time again, saving raw materials and energy.

SUPPORT FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

The aluminium industry supports the sustainable building objective and actively

contributes by:

Integrating the concept from the production stage

The aluminium industry is working at reducing energy consumption and

emissions, and maximising durability, strength, and qualities of the products to

minimise the amount of resources.

Increasing buildings overall sustainability

The aluminium industry is already constantly carrying out research to strengthen

the energy efficiency of its applications (such as window frames) and to develop

even lighter and still efficient products.


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HOW THE INDUSTRY LEADS THE WAY

Thanks to their unique characteristics, aluminium products can play a decisive role

in achieving sustainable building.

With a virtually limitless variety of design possibilities architects and designershave a natural incentive to develop totally new building concepts to meet the

environmental challenges of the next millennium.

Demolition can be transformed into dismantling and recycling using

aluminium building systems.

Existing buildings can be refurbished using aluminium building systems often

with a net saving in the total amount of aluminium used.

Light weight buildings using aluminium significantly reduce the amount of

materials used in construction with subsequent savings at the end of life.

Continuous investment in new technologies means that the aluminium industry

leads the way in product design and energy efficiency.

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European Aluminium Association

contact: Hans-Jrgen Kummert

Avenue de Broqueville 12

ph: +32 2 775 63 53

fax: + 32 2 779 05 31

e-mail: [email protected]

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Building the Future With Aluminium