About 40pc of the raw material used by Constellium company in the 2020 year was scrap material, as per its sustainability report. Out of the total scrap used, was post-consumer scrap and 22pc was pre-consumer scrap generated by the company’s downstream manufacturers.
In 2019, 38pc of Constellium’s raw material was recycled (18pc post-consumer and 20pc pre-consumer).
Headquartered in Paris, Constellium supplies aluminium products for sectors including packaging, automotive, and aerospace. In the packaging industry, it provides aluminium for use by AB InBev, Amcor, Ardagh Group, Ball, Can-Pack, Crown, Coca-Cola, and others.
Constellium has a facility in Muscle Shoals, Ala. capable of recycling 340,000mt of post- and pre-consumer aluminium scrap annually, including used beverage cans (UBCs).
The company also has smaller recycling facilities in Neuf-Brisach, France (recycling capacity of 150,000mt of post- and pre-consumer scrap); Valais, Switzerland (30,000mt of pre-consumer scrap); Issoire, France (20,000 mt of pre-consumer scrap); and Děčín, Czechia (20,000mt of post- and pre-consumer scrap).
Earlier, Constellium announced a plan to borrow large sums for sustainability projects, including metals recycling.
The company is conducting R&D to reduce beverage can weight by 10pc. The project is due to be completed within the next five years with a focus on optimizing can domes, the heaviest parts of cans.
The company is also working to develop recycled-content end products that have not incorporated recycled metal because of quality concerns.
The company shared that it is in the initial stages of developing a new alloy using post-consumer scrap to be used in lipstick sleeves and perfume caps.
It has taken steps to reduce air pollution at its recycling facilities, according to the report. After conducting an R&D project, the company reduced emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by a factor of 10 at the Neuf-Brisach facility. The report mentioned that after conducting a successful pilot program with one recycling furnace in 2019, the company expanded the initiative to the rest of the recycling units in 2020.