Case study detail
Aluminium Cans
Alutrade - Aluminium Recycling
Contributed by:
Harris Vallianatos
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The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) has helped Oldbury based aluminium recycler, Alutrade, secure a £95,000 grant from Advantage West Midlands, safeguarding jobs and creating new employment opportunities for the company.
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Overview
Alutrade, established in 1986 primarily as an aluminium extrusion recycler also manufactures aluminium signs and other products including seating systems used in the Sydney Olympics and Manchester Commonwealth Games.
The award from Advantage West Midlands forms part of a £1 million investment by Alutrade to extend their existing plant to recycle up to 500 tonnes of aluminium and steel drinks cans each month, many from Local Authority and Community-based collection schemes across the West Midlands. Construction works have been carried out to provide a suitable storage facility for the large volume of cans, equipment purchase and personnel hired as part of the scheme.
The company’s traditional business relied heavily on the UK manufacturing industry for raw material. The decline of manufacturing in the UK forced it to look at alternative markets for aluminium recycling and in May 2003 Alutrade was appointed as Midlands Processing Centre for Alcan, recycling aluminium drinks cans. In 2000, more than 3 billion drinks cans were sent to landfill sites. Many can recyclers don’t have the equipment or facilities to be able to extract both aluminium and steel from drinks cans and to cope with the sheer volume of cans used today.
» Director Magazine Alutrade Article (JPG, 750Kb)
This Case study contribution was taken from from the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP), a BCSD-UK project.
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