Non-ferrous metals

For secondary smelters, reliable feedstock quality and consistent supply are essential. At its site near Bergamo, Italian aluminium recycler Stemin processes around 180,000 tonnes of aluminium per year, representing about 17 to 18 per cent of the country’s secondary aluminium market.

Tomra Recycling has introduced the Finder metal recovery platform, a modular system for sorting mixed non-ferrous materials. The system is designed to process input streams such as shredded end-of-life vehicles and electronic scrap. It separates copper and brass fractions, recovers insulated wire, cleans stainless steel and enables the sorting of printed circuit boards from electronic waste.

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) has acknowledged the Environment Agency’s decision to grant a further 12-month extension of Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) 314. The RPS 314 extension metal recycling framework maintains operational continuity for shredding facilities in England while work continues on long-term regulatory and technical solutions.

Asahi Kasei, Nippon Steel and Nippon Steel Trading have introduced a joint system for titanium recycling in chlor-alkali electrolysis cell production. The initiative focuses on processing production scrap into raw material for new pure titanium, aiming to reduce environmental impact and improve resource efficiency across the value chain.

Eriez has published new performance data on the Shred1 ballistic separator, documenting copper control below 0.15 percent at throughputs exceeding 127 tonnes per hour (140 tons per hour).

Raffineria Metalli Cusiana S.p.A., based in Verbania, Italy, has implemented an advanced multi-sensor sorting line in cooperation with TOMRA Recycling to expand its aluminum recycling activities. The project focuses on producing high-purity aluminum fractions and alloy-specific scrap streams for demanding industrial applications.

ReSource Waste Services has significantly increased non-ferrous metal recovery at its construction and demolition waste facilities in New England through the deployment of eddy current separators from Steinert. The company now operates six units across five sites. One of the machines has been in continuous operation for nine years without major maintenance.

The recycling rate for aluminium beverage cans in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland reached 76.3% in 2023, according to the latest data published by Metal Packaging Europe and European Aluminium.

The Association of German Metal Traders and Recyclers (VDM) and the Swedish association Svenska Järn have agreed to intensify their strategic cooperation at European level.

Speira has introduced speira.ID, a digital product passport designed to provide structured and verifiable information on aluminium products. The system consolidates essential data for each individual coil in a single digital record, including carbon footprint, recycled content, chemical composition and input material mix.

While the newly published Economic Security Doctrine and the RESourceEU Action Plan confirm the central role of recycling and secondary raw materials in securing Europe’s industrial future, BIR cautions that several measures risk undermining the very resilience and competitiveness the EU seeks to protect.