Many materials are recyclable. However, recycling is not the same in all cases. It is essential to distinguish between two categories: recycling, which leads to gradual degradation of the material, and recycling, which keeps the material intact. There are few materials that are resistant to a change in characteristics during recovery. Aluminum is the only light metal in this narrow group. This is due to the unique, cubic structure of the particles which makes it more plastic. When aluminum is heated to a certain temperature, it becomes liquid and the crystal structure changes to amorphous. After cooling down, the atoms rearrange themselves in a specific structure. The metal does not degrade, so it can be recycled many times without losing its properties.
Thanks to this feature, aluminum fits like no other material in the current trends of sustainable development, i.e. the concept of a circular economy and maintaining climate balance.
This is good news for Grupa Kęty, as the new environmental requirements may constitute not so much a burden as an opportunity for development. We are currently smelting over 30 thousand. tonnes of aluminum scrap annually. Compared to the production of primary aluminum from bauxite, we use 95% less energy, 97% less water and emit 90% less pollutants into the air, including carbon dioxide.
We are constantly increasing the share of recycled materials in the production of ingots, and thus in the manufactured products. The current level is already 67% (excluding scrap recycled directly in the smelting process, the so-called home srcap).
We can afford such a high level because 95% of recovery is “pure scrap” from our own production and subsidiaries. In addition, we carry out selective collection of scrap in individual grades, thanks to which we maintain the highest quality of our products.
Due to the high level and method of recovery, our products are characterized by a low carbon footprint. Moreover, thanks to the successive increase in the amount of recycled materials, we have significantly reduced the carbon footprint of our products over the past few years.
