Based on anticipated production rates, total primary aluminium production will have exceeded 2 billion tonnes by mid-2027. This will have been responsible for at least 20 billion tonnes of CO2e, 8 billion tonnes of red mud, and 50 million tonnes of spent pot lining. This is not sustainable, and it is time to ensure that aluminium use is based on Circular Economy principles and primary production is dramatically curtailed to levels only sufficient to replace aluminium lost from the cycle.

Geoff is a metallurgist who has worked in aluminium based industrial R&D for early fifty years. He has developed a significant number of collaborative R&D programmes, aiming to re-establish aluminium manufacturing in the UK with the emphasis on sustainability and the use of end-of-life scrap. He is the Chief Scientific Officer of Innoval Technology and Professor of Metallurgy and Head of Industrial Research at the Brunel University Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST) in London, where the emphasis is on the transition of metals manufacturing from a linear to a circular economy..

Various approaches exist for the additive manufacturing of metals. High-strength aluminium alloys often show metallurgical difficulties when employing fusion-based approaches. Twente University has developed a solid-state additive manufacturing method, enabling the fabrication of parts with a variety of aluminium alloys. In this presentation the friction screw extrusion additive manufacturing approach will be introduced, showing some first results.

Ton Bor studied Materials Science at the Technical University of Delft. After completion of his PhD and post-doctoral position in Delft, he worked at Malvern Panalytical in Almelo as an X-ray diffraction specialist. In 2004 he started at the University of Twente within the Production Technology Department, teaching materials science and researching a broad range of materials (metals, polymers, composites, ceramics), focusing on in solid-state welding, cladding and additive manufacturing.

Every product is a marginal compromise resulting from a trade- off between various items, e.g. quality, price, usability, and environmental footprint. The better the understanding of the production process window, the better the optimisation of current and future products can be supported. Aluminium offers unique barrier properties and the deep drawn aluminium trays and heat- sealed aluminium lids provide a high quality & integrity packaging solution for food and medical products.

To lower the environmental footprint of the trays the aluminium recycled content will increase and change the aluminium properties, and a simulation model is an absolute necessity to make this happen.

Marcel Oonk is technical service and development manager at Amcor in Zutphen, a manufacturing site for deep drawn aluminium trays and die-cut aluminium lids and previously active in development, technical marketing, service, and operations in manufacturing sites.

In response to climate change and the challenges facing the world, Hydro offers certified low-carbon and recycled aluminium products which help to the carbon footprint ensuring responsible production. Recycled aluminium alloys made from a combination of recycled pre-consumer scrap, post-consumer scrap and primary aluminium collected and recycled close to the source, a network of local recycling plants. The presentation will center on the development of high quality recycled aluminium alloys tailored to specific applications.

Sacha Brandt started in the aluminium industry in 2004 as a junior sales representative for Alcoa Europe. Currently (2024) he is Vice President West (Managing Director, extrusion & billet production. In addition Sacha supports Norsk Hydro ASA an executive manager in several management boards. Sacha supports the Dutch, Belgian and German Aluminium Associations as board member in these organisations.