Aluminium Duffel has reopened its Greenmelt recycling furnace at its production site in Duffel, Belgium, marking a new step in the company’s efforts to increase the use of recycled aluminium.
The furnace was officially restarted on September 23 during an event attended by customers, suppliers and industry stakeholders. Aluminium Duffel CEO Rafael Carbonell officially started the furnace alongside representatives from the company and European Aluminium.
The Greenmelt facility will enable Aluminium Duffel to process post-consumer aluminium scrap, including more contaminated material that can be challenging to recycle. The company already incorporates internal production scrap and pre-consumer scrap into its manufacturing processes.
According to Aluminium Duffel, the decision to reopen Greenmelt was driven by the growing importance of high-quality post-consumer scrap and the need to prevent valuable aluminium from being downcycled. The company’s sustainability report identifies better scrap segregation and increased access to suitable recycled material as important factors in expanding circular production. 
The investment comes as demand grows for aluminium products with lower carbon footprints. Aluminium can be recycled repeatedly without losing its fundamental properties, while recycling requires significantly less energy than producing aluminium from primary raw materials.
Source: Aluminium Duffel with additional information added by Glass Balkan
