Sustainability
Constellium SE today announced that it is leading a new R&D initiative called “Close the Loop” in partnership with an ecosystem of recycling companies in France, including INDRA (automotive recycling), GALLOO (metal recycling) and MTB RECYCLING (metal shredding & sorting).
Funded in part by the French Environmental Agency ADEME under the France 2030 program, the Close the Loop project aims to develop technologies to dismantle, sort and remelt wrought aluminium from end-of-life vehicles to be used in future vehicles. Recycling aluminium requires only 5% of the energy used to produce primary metal, and emits 95% fewer GHG emissions.
As the amount of aluminium on end-of-life vehicles continually increases thanks to automakers’ growing use of lightweight aluminium over the past 20 years, it is essential that the metal is efficiently recycled and repurposed into new vehicles, preserving its value and contributing to a circular economy. Several options, including full vehicle shredding and dismantling aluminium-rich components, will be assessed both technically and economically. New aluminium Auto Body Sheet alloys with increased tolerance to impurities will be prototyped at Constellium’s C-TEC research and development center, which is also investigating new technologies to decarbonize melting operations.
“We are proud to lead the Close the Loop project and look forward to further demonstrating Constellium’s commitment to providing low carbon footprint aluminium, as well as the benefits and feasibility of circularity, to our automotive customers,” said Ludovic Piquier, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Excellence and Chief Technical Officer. “We believe this project will further strengthen aluminium’s position in the automotive market as manufacturers and consumers demand more sustainable mobility solutions.”
Constellium is a leading full-service supplier of rolled and extruded aluminium solutions for the global automotive market and is collaborating across the value-chain to help drive the low-carbon transition and promote a circular economy.