Clearview National February 2019 - Issue 207 | Page 48
Aluminium Extra
PROUD SPONSOR OF ALUMINIUM EXTRA
Towards Closed Loop Recycling
CAB CEO, Justin Ratcliffe, looks at why the Association will be highlighting
Aluminium’s recycling qualities in its 25th Anniversary year with the
development of a Closed Loop Recycling Scheme that kicks off as a pilot.
SUSTAINABLE TRENDS
At the start of the year, many of us are still
trying to predict the future for everything
from stocks and shares to interior design – as if
it’s a natural tendency to try to fathom out the
‘bulls’ from the ‘bears’ or the next ‘in colour’.
I’ll pass on the former but can confirm that
Pantone announced its ‘colour of the year’ for
2019 late last year, and its prediction is Living
Coral, a bright cheerful peach – something of
interest to a number of companies in CAB’s
supply chain membership. Another trend
that members might take an interest in is the
switch to blinds and shutters in the window
coverings market which, according to AMA
Research, is expected to rise 15% rise in to
£1.6bn by 2022.
Unsurprisingly, further trends in the home
are for the increase use of recycled materials
in everything from homewares to towels to
mattresses and one should applaud many
leading manufacturers for highlighting and
bringing focus to the recycling cause.
However, it sometimes comes across that
recycling is some sort of early 21st Century
phenomenon and we forget that aluminium,
for instance, has been recycled for so long that
75% of the total production since the 1880’s is
still in use. What’s more, recycling aluminium
brings no loss in quality and crucially creates
an ‘aluminium bank’ for re-use in the future
as only 5% of the original energy required for
primary extraction is required for re-smelting.
In 2019, CAB’s 25th Anniversary year, it
is totally appropriate that the Association will
focus on the metal’s recyclability, one of its
outstanding and best known characteristics.
In many ways we take this for granted and
forget not only about the recycling journey
for pre and post consumer aluminium scrap,
but also how valuable and important that
scrap is in ultimately helping to meet peaks
in demand from a variety of sectors especially
construction.
CAB’S CLOSED LOOP
RECYCLING SCHEME
CAB’s Scheme (Pilot) is open to members as
part of their membership package.
Aluminium is a ‘permanent’ material,
which means, as noted above, that its inherent
properties do not change after repeated
recycling. In order to keep aluminium in the
loop, it must be collected and sorted properly.
While there is always an economic incentive
to recycle aluminium, one of the aims of this
Scheme is to increase closed loop recycling by
encouraging the collecting and sorting of scrap
into specific wrought alloy groups.
While such closed loop recycling of
construction materials is currently voluntary,
requirements could be placed on ‘embedded
carbon’ content in the future and main
contractors are increasingly seeking evidence
to demonstrate the sustainability credentials
of their supply chain. Scrap is an important
resource and we should maximise the quantity
and quality of recovered aluminium scrap in
the UK to build the circular economy of the
future.
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
• Generate higher quality aluminium scrap
with increased value compared to mixed
scrap
• Promotion of members’ sustainability
credentials to customers and (for the full
scheme) use of the scheme logo
• Development of the aluminium closed
loop recycling value chain
WHY WE ARE STARTING
WITH A PILOT PROJECT
The focus of this pilot project is to test the
scheme at the ‘start’ of the closed loop with
systems companies, hardware manufacturers,
fabricators, installers and scrap processors.
Once we have demonstrated the concept, it
is our intention to roll out the full scheme and
bring together the complete value chain.
MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
AND HOW TO JOIN?
An important element of the scheme is
the collection of monthly data returns from
members. All data will be collected in strict
confidence by CAB and should allow us to
compile aggregated data that demonstrate the
quantity of aluminium recycling in the UK
market.
Full details regarding membership criteria
and how to join can be found at:
www.c-a-b.org.uk/pilot-scheme/.
If you are interested in joining the Scheme
or finding out more information, then
contact Jessica Dean at the CAB office on
01453 828851 or email jessica.dean@c-a-b.
org.uk
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