Cars reborn

in a new aluminium recycling scheme

Jaguar Land Rover is also expanding the use of recycled aluminium in its car bodies to cut waste and reduce carbon emissions.

The £2 million project, called REALITY, has found a way to enable the closed-loop recycling of aluminium from end- of-life vehicles back into high- performance product forms for new vehicle body manufacture in the UK by Jaguar Land Rover.

REALITY builds on the REALCAR project allowing tens of thousands of tonnes of aluminium generated in the manufacturing process to be recycled and reused as a closed-loop. Aluminium from other sources, including end- of-life vehicles, can now be graded and ‘ born again’ in the manufacture of new cars.

This unique ‘closed-loop’ automotive recycling system helps to further develop the circular economy model to deliver both financial and environmental benefits.

REALCAR began as a partnership between Jaguar Land Rover, Innovate UK, Novelis, Norton Aluminium, Stadco, Brunel University London, Zyomax and Innoval Technology. The original project and subsequent work with suppliers enabled Jaguar Land Rover to reclaim more than 75,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap and re-use it in the aluminium production process in 2016/17.

Implementing closed-loop aluminium recycling has involved cuttingedge chemistry, new infrastructure and investment of more than £13 million. It is driving a new culture that treats waste material as a high-value commodity. Quality will remain paramount, and the project has evaluated aluminium grades at chemistry and microstructure level to increase tolerance to recycling.

The project, part-funded by Innovate UK, has involved more than 10 press shops (Jaguar Land Rover and external suppliers) with aluminium being remelted by Novelis.

The car manufacturer says work continues to refine the process of turning aluminium from ‘end- of-life’ cars into new vehicles. The REALITY project will continue to deliver significant sustainability benefits, with aluminium recycling requiring up to 95 percent less energy than primary aluminium production. Innovate UK1 awarded a grant of £1.3 million to the project in 2016 as part of its Manufacturing and Materials Round One funding competition.

The new project will consider advanced sorting technologies and evaluate the next generation aluminium alloys for greater recyclability. Innovations in the sorting and separating technologies applied to automotive end- of-life waste streams will also help other sectors, including packaging and construction. Resource recovery specialist Axion has joined the project to develop the sorting technologies for recovery of a high grade recycled aluminium. The project partners are Jaguar Land Rover, Axion Recycling, Innovate UK, Novelis, Norton Aluminium, Brunel University London, WMG University of Warwick and Innoval Technology.

REALITY supports material stewardship as part of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard, to actively encourage the most effective recycling approaches for aluminium. Jaguar Land Rover is an ASI2 member. 1. Innovate UK is the operating name of the Technology Strategy Board, the UK’s innovation agency. It is a UK non- departmental public body operating at arm’s length from the Government reporting to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). In the financial year 2016-2017 IUK distributed up to £561m of public money in four sector groups - Emerging and enabling technologies, Health and life sciences, Infrastructure systems and Manufacturing and materials. The latter has so far received £4.5 for Additive manufacturing; £2m for Manufacturing readiness and all- up £28m for Manufacturing & materials Round 1 & 2. 2. The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative is the body standard for an international application by the aluminium value chain to enable the aluminium industry to demonstrate responsibility and provide independent and credible assurance of performance; reinforce and promote consumer and stakeholder confidence in aluminium products; reduce reputational risks concerning aluminium and aluminium industry players; and address the expressed needs by downstream industrial users and consumers for responsible sourcing of aluminium. ASI’s standards are designed to be applicable to all stages of aluminium production and transformation, specifically: bauxite mining, alumina refining, primary aluminium production, semi-fabrication (rolling, extrusion, forging and foundry), material conversion, and refining and re- melting of recycled scrap, as well as material stewardship criteria relevant to downstream users of aluminium. Two standards will form the core of the ASI Certification program: • ASI Performance Standard (Principles and Criteria launched December 2014) • ASI Chain of Custody Standard