Jaguar Land Rover seeking to increase the amount of aluminum from scrap for new vehicle production; 3-year, £2M REALITY project
11 September 2017
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive is expanding the use of recycled aluminum in its car bodies to cut waste and reduce carbon emissions.
A £2-million (US$2.6-million) project, called REALITY, will work to enable the closed-loop recycling of aluminum from end-of-life vehicles back into high-performance product forms for new vehicle body manufacture. The target is to increase the amount of aluminum coming back from scrap. REALITY builds on the REALCAR project (earlier post) allowing tens of thousands of tonnes of aluminum generated in the manufacturing process to be recycled and reused as a closed-loop. Aluminum from other sources, including end-of-life vehicles, can now be graded and used in the manufacture of new cars.
This 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 aluminum, 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 aluminum scrap and re-use it in the aluminum production process in 2016/17.
RC5754 alloy, a new automotive product designed to contain up to 75% recycled content, which has been successfully integrated into the structural components of high volume production passenger vehicles, was a key component of Jaguar’s REALCAR (REcycled ALuminium CAR) project.
Implementing closed-loop aluminum recycling has involved cutting-edge chemistry, new infrastructure and investment of more than £13-million (US$17.2 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 aluminum 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 aluminum being remelted by Novelis.
The REALITY project will continue to deliver significant sustainability benefits, with aluminum recycling requiring up to 95% less energy than primary aluminum production. Innovate UK awarded a grant of £1.3 (US$1.7 million) 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 aluminum 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 aluminum. The project partners are Jaguar Land Rover, Axion Recycling, Innovate UK, Novelis, Norton aluminum, Brunel University London, WMG University of Warwick and Innoval Technology.
REALITY supports material stewardship as part of the aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard, to actively encourage the most effective recycling approaches for aluminum. Jaguar Land Rover is an ASI member.
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