Extraction of alumina or aluminium oxide from bauxite, followed by refinement where alumina is separated from bauxite and transformation into aluminium requires virgin materials and can results in huge energy consumption and CO2 emissions, if the production is not powered by renewable power.

Hydro is operating an advanced aluminium sorting technology that allows the use of recycled aluminium. Using recycled aluminium in the production process means that a lower amount of heat (and therefore energy) is generated. This energy usually contributes to CO2 emissions, so by reducing the amount of energy required to create the material, Hydro proactively reduce climate change. When indicating about 75% recycled materials, this exclusively referring to aluminium that has reached its end of life as a product in use and is brought back into the loop via recycling. This could be aluminium from demolished building projects, food and drink containers or even cars. Once the aluminium is reclaimed, it is cleaned and sorted so only the finest (and least contaminated) scrap materials are put back into circulation. This is to ensure that additional energy isn’t used to recycle it.

The percentage of scrap aluminium in Hydro CIRCAL is guaranteed to be a minimum of 75%. The production process is fully traceable, and the product is certified by an independent third party. Hydro CIRCAL support reduced use of energy, cut CO2 emissions and use of virgin materials.