Patterns of Aluminum Reuse in the Arab World

. The use of aluminium can be seen in many different fields, such as transportation, food and medicine packaging, building construction, electronic components, and electrical power transfer. In reality, aside from iron, aluminium is the most widely used metal. However, the aluminium can is the most recycled object of its kind in the world, making aluminium the world's second most used metal.

When aluminium burns at landfills, it releases toxic gases and serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, making disposal a difficult job. Aluminum can be recycled endlessly, and doing so has numerous environmental and economic benefits.

Due to its high market worth, aluminium recycling remains a viable business option. Aluminum's high scrap value, low energy requirements, and superb recyclability make it a prime candidate for use in lightweight solutions.

Metal recycling's share of worldwide aluminium production has grown from 17% in 1960 to 34% in 2015 and is expected to reach nearly 40% by 2020. Over sixty percent of all aluminium beverage cans are gathered, and recycling rates for other aluminium products are similarly high.

Large quantities of aluminium scrap are produced annually in the Middle East. More than 500 million beverage cans are used every year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but only five percent of them are recycled. The remainder are sent to scrap dealers or thrown away in landfills, illustrating the scale of the issue.

The Middle East is home to a thriving aluminium industry that could greatly profit from recycling programmes. Aluminum recycling offers the area a sustainable long-term option by decreasing demand for both raw materials and precious fossil fuels.

Emirates Aluminum (EGA) plans to build the Middle East's first aluminium reprocessing facility in the UAE

In order to increase aluminium recycling in the United Arab Emirates, a group led by Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and including beverage makers, can makers, and refuse management companies, was formed (UAE).

The Aluminum Can Recycling Initiative was formed to spread the word about recycling aluminium drinking cans.

Coaltion participants include the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Corporation (Tadweer), Coca-Cola Beverages, Aujan, Coca-Cola Al Ahlia Beverages, BEEAH Tandeef, Dubai Refreshment, CANPACK, Crown Bevcan EMEA, DULSCO Group, and Veolia.

The goal of the Aluminium Recycling Alliance is to assist the UAE government in developing aluminium recycling policies and procedures, as well as to aid in the construction of aluminium recycling facilities.

The coalition's initial effort will be to fund a research by the International Aluminium Institute into the prevalence of recycling practises and attitudes towards aluminium in the United Arab Emirates.

The research's overarching goals are to establish the scope of aluminium recycling in the nation and locate feasible options for improving the process.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of Emirates Global Aluminium, made the following statement: "Recyclability is one reason aluminium is so essential for human development, but every day as a society, we throw too much of this valuable metal away.

For the greater good of UAE community and economy, EGA has taken up advocacy for the Aluminium Recycling Coalition.

Both Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, were present for the launch of the alliance.

The UAE's position as a global leader in international efforts towards green development will be strengthened, Al Marri said, and the alliance will help the country achieve its goals for the circular economy by 2031 and create a more robust and competitive knowledge economy.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to prohibit disposable plastic shopping bags as of January 1, 2019.

In January of 2026, the nation will outlaw the use of plastic and foam items like cups, plates, and silverware.

Shifting dynamics in the Middle East

Speakers at the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Non-Ferrous Metals Division meeting on October 18 reported that primary producers of nonferrous metals in the Middle East area were using secondary metal feedstocks and more sustainable processes in their production. The conference was held in conjunction with the BIR's 2022 World Recycling Conference, which took place in Dubai, UAE (UAE). Global metals producers such as Novelis and Aurubis are mirroring the pattern by investing in the United States and Europe.

Primary metal makers are increasingly utilising scrap and renewable energy in their production processes, as reported by two nonferrous operators from the United Arab Emirates: Fadi Awadhalla of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and Abdullah El Doukhei of Ducab Metals Business (DMB). In an effort to achieve their net-zero goals, they also claimed that metals producers' customers would be ready to pay a "green" premium.

Casthouse, a subsidiary of Dubai-based EGA, has a goal of becoming a worldwide sustainability leader in the aluminium industry by producing only Aluminium Stewardship Initiative- (ASI-) certified products by the year 2030, as outlined by Awadhalla, the company's vice president. Performance and chain of custody standards for the ethical production, sourcing, and management of aluminium have been created by the Aluminium Sustainability Institute (ASI), based in Melbourne, Australia.

To achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its operations and supply EGA plans to "vastly increase output of CelestiAL, the world's first metal produced with solar power," as stated by Awadhalla. He noted that BMW was receiving more than 40,000 metric tonnes of CelestiAL annually, but that "all the automotives want it" and are willing to pay for the luxury product.

In the United Arab Emirates, EGA has planned a recycling plant that will turn post- and pre-consumer scrap into billet at the rate of 150,000 metric tonnes per year by 2024. An additional remelt facility of 30,000 metric tonnes is being considered by the business. Scrap supply possibilities could arise if, as Awadhalla pointed out, EGA established recycling facilities closer to its customers, particularly in Europe and North America.

He remarked on how unfamiliar his group was with composting and expressed a desire to learn more. "If you had asked me about recycling ten years ago, I would have said, 'Nice to meet you, but this is none of our concern.'" Everyone who produces basic goods must consider recycling now.

DMB, which is part of the Dubai-based Ducab Group, focuses on producing high-quality aluminium and copper goods, 75 percent of which are exported. According to senior plant manager El Doukhei, the business began using scrap in 2017, and that number is expected to rise to 25 percent by 2020. The business had planned to increase its use of scrap even as its use dropped slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, El Doukhei noted that varying quantities of waste material and inconsistent quality, especially with regards to impurities in recycled copper, are obstacles to expanding scrap usage. The industry needs to make a serious commitment to quality.

Awadhalla stated, "EGA, long-term, would prefer the basic LME trading to be green." This was in response to a question about whether or not the London Metal Exchange (LME) should host distinct trading for "green" and nongreen metals. Anything that isn't environmentally friendly needs to be reduced.

According to him, international buyers have been hesitant to commit to deals in 2025 unless they are assured of receiving aluminium products with minimal carbon emissions.

BIR Nonferrous Division President Dhawal Shah of Metco Ventures LLP in Mumbai, India, remarked on the presentations and the region's increasing preference for scrap and sustainable production, saying, "You can see the change and the dynamic—what it's the future looks like."

Divisional board member Sebastien Perron of Labrador Recycling, a metals trading and logistics firm based in Springfield, Massachusetts, presented a BIR World Mirror-based market report at the event, noting that, up until very recently, business conditions in the secondary nonferrous metals industry remained generally positive. A far more difficult playing field has emerged, however, as a result of rising geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic problems? Perron added that things were made worse because some countries were looking inward and contemplating policies that are antithetical to free trade.