RecAL project: A Circular Future for European Aluminium
Recycling aluminium from existing End-of-Life (EoL) and production scraps holds immense promise, utilising a mere 5% of the energy required to produce the primary material production. Recognising its key role in global decarbonisation, particularly in alignment with the European Green Deal, the RecAL project aims to maximise the potential of this environmentally friendly resource.
RecAL, a pioneering project dedicated to revolutionising aluminium recycling in Europe, was officially launched in February, in Vienna. This data-driven initiative has been strongly supported with EU funding of €10.6 million from the Horizon Europe programme. It brings together 19 partners from 9 European countries, coordinated by AIT-LKR.
The project will develop advanced recycling and digital technologies for a circular aluminium economy, enabled by the proposed RecAL Hub, a digital cockpit tracking Al-reyclates across the continent, connecting suppliers with buyers. In this way, RecAL will address critical industry challenges to usher in a new era of sustainable production – and reuse – for the metal.
With a commitment to innovation, RecAL will advance 14 key technological solutions up to Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL6) and integrate them into a digital, socio-technical ecosystem known as the aluminium hub for circularity. This interactive platform will foster direct collaboration among stakeholders along the value chain, promoting full-scale industrial and technological symbiosis while closing energy, resource, and data loops at both regional and European scales.
Leitat’s main role in this project is the development of a new sorting line for Al alloys that include the combination of robotic and photonic technologies. Different waste streams coming from automotive, construction and aircraft sector will be studied with those technologies looking for high precision in their sorting. Also, Leitat coordinate the work package that includes all the tasks relating sorting steps such as disassembly, AI based algorithms, vision systems, automatic grasping techniques, advanced characterization of Al alloys and techno-economical assessment for future deployment.
Leitat will contribute with the implementation of a sorting line, a medium size pilot, where Al alloys will be detected and sorted, going further for current state of art increasing this valuable Al secondary resource. It contributes into RecAL identifying different Al Alloys in line, and digitalizing the process.
Stay tuned for more news on the project!
Linkedin: RecAL: Overview | LinkedIn
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