The continuing growth of aluminum alloy usage in transportation applica¬tions, notably passenger automobiles and minivans, and the demonstrated economic benefits of recycling alumi¬num-rich vehicles increase the need to seriously consider the desirability of designing recycling-friendly alloys. This article focuses on that aspect of the recy¬cling process for passenger vehicles. The goals are to illustrate the opportunities afforded by identifying and taking full advantage of potential metal streams in guiding the development of new alloys that use those streams. In speculating on several possible aluminum recovery practices and systems that might be used in recycling passenger vehicles, likely compositions are identified and pre¬liminary assessments of their usefulness for direct recycling are made. Specific compositions for possible new recycle-friendly alloys are suggested. In addition, recommendations on how the aluminum enterprise, including industry, academia, and government, can work together to achieve the aggressive but important goals described here are discussed.

From this short survey it is concluded that the dilemma of the 900,000 tons of aluminum UBC waste is best tackled by working with Options 1 ( collection of “clean” UBC ) and 2 (collection of UBC as commingled waste). These options are clearly more straightforward and cost efficient than recovery from an existing landfill, Option 3 (recovery of UBC from an existing landfill). Only when these two simpler options have been optimized will it be possible to make a realistic estimate of the benefits of further recovery procedures directly from a landfill.

A key element for realizing long term sustainable use of any metal will be a robust recycling industry.To expands secondary production, it is necessary to reduce the barriers to return, collect, and process recycled materials. One such barrier is the mismatch between the composition of returning postconsumer scrap and current alloy specifications. This paper examines the use of linear optimization models to provide detailed strategies for secondary metal processors, remelters, and product designers in their selection and specification of alloys. A case study involving typically recycled aluminum components is presented to evaluate a set of scrap friendly alloys proposed by the authors. Specific focus will be given to the impact of scrap compositional uncertainty in the alloy design process. Initial results show that utilization of these new techniques provides a systematic approach to inform alloy designers on business-critical decisions that provide both increased scrap consumption and related economic benefit.

For decades, thousands of obsolete private, civil, and military aircraft have been sitting in “graveyards,” while the demand for recycled aluminum continues to increase. The aircraft provide an obvious source of valuable metal. However cost effective recycling of aircraft is complex because aircraft alloys are (a) typically relatively high in alloying elements and (b) contain relatively higher levels of impurities than required of many newer aircraft alloys to optimize their toughness and other performance characteristics. This paper describes (a) potential aircraft recycling process, (b) the technical and logistic challenges, and (c) options to address those challenges in a practical and cost-effective manner. A program addressing these issues is laid out in this paper.

The growth in aluminum usage in transportation applications, the decline in aluminum beverage can recycling, and the increasing reliance of the domestic fabrication industry on secondary aluminum have combined to create new needs in both the materials design and processing space. This presentation will detail the history and future projections for aluminum recycling, emphasizing the increasing importance of mixed scrap streams in the makeup of secondary aluminum. To most economically utilize these scrap streams, new approaches to developing acceptable materials processed to control properties suitable for an expanded range of applications are needed. How the aluminum enterprise, including industry, academia, and government can work together to meet these important but aggressive targets and transform recycling from strictly an environmental imperative to an economic development opportunity will be discussed.

Recycling aluminum alloys has been shown to provide major economic benefits. As a result, it is appropriate for the aluminum industry and the U.S. as a whole to identify, develop, and implement all technologies that will optimize the benefits of recycling. This paper focuses primarily on alloy design for optimizing the reuse of recycled metal; this is both the most forward looking area as we move toward a more recycle friendly world, and the most overlooked for its potential in maximizing the recycle loop. Some specific approaches to alloy design for recycling are put forth, and some specific compositions for evaluation are proposed. Options for moving forward to further capitalize on the advantages of aluminum recycling are also addressed.

The aluminum can industry is facing a new challenge in declining recycling rates in the United States. The economic benefits of aluminum recycling are wide¬spread and important not only to the U.S. aluminum industry, but to the economy in general. With a Sloan Foun¬dation grant, Secat Inc. and the Univer¬sity of Kentucky, through the Center for a Sustainable Aluminum Industry, are conducting a project in Fayette County, Kentucky, to understand and improve recycling rates using Six Sigma method¬ology. This application of Six Sigma is the first methodological attempt at improving the recycling rate. To date, the preliminary process map has been identified and an initial estimate of the true recycling rate has been developed. The information gathered during this project and described in this article is expected to serve as a stepping stone to a national effort to increase U.S. recy¬cling rates. The result, it is anticipated, will be increased economic development opportunities.

Recycling behavior and the motivations behind recycling are being analyzed in a collaborative study between the Sloan Industry Center for a Sustainable Aluminum Industry, the Center for Aluminum Technology, Secat, and the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. The goals of this study are to determine why people recycle and to find ways to motivate people to recycle more, using Fayette County, Kentucky, as a sample study. It is hoped that the information gathered through educational and motivational efforts in this county can be used on a larger scale in communities throughout the United States.

It is now possible to assess the impact of the production processes of aluminum on the environment and to describe some of the ongoing responses and opportunities for improvement. This is compared with the benefits of aluminum in transportation, where the growing usage in various forms of transport due to its low density, high strength, and ability to be recycled enables reduced mass, increased fuel efficiency, reduced emissions and increased safety. It is the purpose of this paper to compare and contrast the emissions generated in the production of aluminum with the benefits accruing from its increased use in transportation

The Aluminum Recycling Index (ARI) has recently been proposed to measure the relative energy value to be recovered through recycling of aluminum alloys

Probably the most significant property of alumi¬num is its ability to be recycled repeatedly with¬out loss of product integrity and minimal material loss through oxidation (~1-2%). Further, recycling saves ~95% of the energy and emissions as compared to making it from the original ore, a key factor in a carbon-constrained world. The recycling advantage is demon¬strated every day with the beverage can, which can be sold, consumed, recycled, and be available again in the store in as little as 60 days. In the past few years, the volume of aluminum recycled from automotive applications has sur¬passed that from beverage cans. This growing aluminum use in automotive applications, especially of recycled alu¬minum, is significant in that it decreases vehicle mass, im¬proves fuel efficiency, and reduces emissions. Eventually, this application is anticipated to beneficial.

Aluminum consumption in automotive applications has maintained consistent growth in the past 30 years and is expected to continue to climb to meet the growing demand for more energy-efficient vehicles. Recycling post-consumer aluminum to build new vehicles will further reduce manufacturing life-cycle energy consumption and emissions leading to significantly lower production costs. To take full advantage of recycling automotive aluminum alloys, a guideline for the recycling practice and design of recycle-friendly alloys such as cost benefits is needed, while meeting the property requirements. Formability is one of critical properties for aluminum vehicle body panels and strongly depends on alloy composition and processing. The forming limit curve (FLC) offers the opportunity to determine process limitations in sheet metal forming and is used in the estimation of the stamping characteristics of sheet metal materials. The comparison of deformations on stamped metal sheets with the FLC leads to a security estimation of the stamping process. Numerical analysis has also been applied to simulate the forming process of automotive parts and to predict the forming behavior of aluminum alloys. A combination of numerical analysis and the FLC comparison can serve as a good guideline to optimize the recycling process and alloy compositions of automotive aluminum alloys.