Hydro produces first near-zero aluminium in Clervaux

Hydro’s recycling plant in Clervaux, Luxembourg, has recently produced 130 tonnes of near-zero carbon aluminium with 100 % post-consumer aluminium scrap.

When launching its new sustainability ambitions at Capital Markets Day in December last year, Hydro announced its intention to deliver its first commercial volumes of near-zero carbon aluminium in 2022, with less than 0.5 kg CO2/kg aluminium, through the value chain. This production cornerstone is a significant improvement, compared with the current 2.3 kg CO2/kg aluminium in Hydro Circal extrusion ingot with 75 % post-consumer aluminium scrap.

“We are very happy to have used 100 % post-consumer aluminium scrap to produce the first 130 t of Hydro Circal 100R, and look forward to optimizing our production further. The main challenge with using 100 % scrap is to meet the needed composition for the alloy. This was achieved by using a mixture of scrap qualities in a precise way,” says Ludovic Dardinier, plant manager at Hydro Clervaux.

Hydro’s 2025 strategy aims to strengthen Hydro’s position in low-carbon aluminium by investing in recycling. Hydro has set a strategic ambition to double its recycling of post-consumer scrap (PCS) and to increase annual recycling Ebitda by a range of NOK 0.7-1.1 bn by 2025. The use of post-consumer scrap significantly reduces the CO2 footprint compared to pre-consumer / process scrap as well as primary aluminium.

Hydro is discussing with interested customers the first potential commercial applications of this ultra-low-carbon product. “With ever-increasing consumer awareness of the importance of how the material in the items they purchase is produced, Hydro’s unique ability to deliver Circal 100R provides our customers a responsibly-sourced and manufactured material, available for a number of applications, to meet this demand,” says Trond Olaf Christophersen, head of Recycling at Hydro.