Environment

As an international recycler of Aluminium and Magnesium scrap and skimmings, our business model revolves around resource efficiency, environmental protection, and energy management. The focus of our operations is reclaiming valuable metal from waste and returning it back into the cycle of valuable products.


Careful scrap management and separation, sophisticated blending calculation, advanced production technology, and strict process and quality control make sure that we achieve maximum recoveries of high-quality recycled light metal alloys with the least possible demand for energy and other resources. The environmental impact of our business activities is regularly and comprehensively monitored and documented. Waste reduction, the prevention of emissions to air and water, and decreasing the noise and odor emissions are given high priority. Nevertheless, substantial positive environmental impact results from the resource and energy savings through the recycling of more than 378,000 tonnes of valuable Aluminium and Magnesium from a large variety of production and post-consumer scrap in the reporting period 2021. Compared to the average carbon footprint of primary Aluminium used in Europe (8.6 kg CO₂/kg Al according to European Aluminium, Environmental Profile Report 2018), the amount of Aluminium we recycled in 2021 saved close to 3,000,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

Detailed charts referring to the carbon footprint:

CO₂ emissions per tonne output
CO₂ emissions per tonne output incl. combustibles in scraps

Additional energy savings result from the shipment of liquid Aluminium: With every kilogramm of liquid Aluminium delivered, the customer saves approximately 0.3 kWh of energy that would otherwise have to be spent on heating up and melting down the Aluminium. In 2021, more than 140,500 tonnes of Aluminium were delivered in liquid form. This saved more than 42,000 MWh of energy at our customers, the equivalent of 7,650 tonnes of CO₂ from combustion of natural gas. Taking into account that modern melting furnaces have an efficiency of about 60 percent, the savings from liquid instead of solid metal delivery increases to over 70,000 MWh or almost 12,750 tonnes of CO₂. But the supply of liquid metal also promotes resource and energy efficiency in another important aspect: When solid metal is melted down, about 1 percent of the metal used is usually lost through re-oxidation to Aluminium oxide. So, our supply of liquid metal also saves the material, the energy, and the CO₂ emissions which would have been consumed or generated when replacing this lost 1 percent by primary metal production. In 2021, approximately 1,200 tonnes of metal were thus obtained through our liquid deliveries. In the EU, the production of 1 tonne of primary metal requires about 18.7 MWh of energy corresponding to about 6.7 tons of CO₂ emissions. For our 1,200 tonnes, this corresponds to more than 22,000 MWh of energy and more than 8,000 tons of CO₂ emissions saved in 2021.


Greenhouse Gas Emissions

One of the major global challenges is related to climate change. This is directly linked to the CO₂ emissions from our operations and the Carbon footprint of our products. The general public, policy makers and increasingly also our customers are requesting not only transparency but also actions to reduce CO₂ emissions. Policy sets very ambitious targets, which businesses need to pick up and translate into action. For us at Speira's Recycling Services, CO₂ emissions are dominated by the emissions resulting from the natural gas we use in our furnaces, heating stations, etc. This again represents the overwhelming part of our energy cost. In addition, we – either directly or indirectly – pay a price for all our CO₂ emissions, for example through the cost associated with the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). Reducing our specific CO₂ emissions is equivalent to reducing the energy consumption which again is an important driver for the financial success of our company.

Compared against our emission levels in 2010, our emission levels in 2019 were approximately 12 percent lower. We certainly need to continue our efforts to further improve. In November 2020, we therefore decided to set ourselves a mid-term target:

Until 2025, Speira's Recycling Services will improve the energy efficiency and reduce the CO₂ intensity of its operations by 20 percent, compared against a 2010 baseline.

For the years 2020 to 2025, this requires us to achieve a further improvement of our energy efficiency by 8 percent.


Energy Use and CO₂ Intensity

Our greenhouse gas emissions are given as CO₂ emissions, covering scope 1 emissions from the use of fossil fuels in own installations and equipment and scope 2 emissions (from externally sourced electricity), as defined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Scope 1 includes emissions from the use of natural gas (and Propane in Norway) as well as from Diesel consumption by our forklifts, wheel loaders, and internal mobile equipment. Scope 2 covers purchased electricity, but without taking account of the fact that we have purchased green power certificates for some of the electricity consumption of our Deizisau and Töging sites. The data are based on information from Recycling Services’ accounting systems. In addition, the data from the German sites are reviewed and checked via our ISO 50001 energy management audits and also externally validated in the course of the reporting into the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The emission factors are also taken from the ETS.

With Aluminium being a very valuable resource, it is an important contribution to circular economy, conservation of resources and energy, and also reduction of GHG emissions to make sure that the metal contained in as many different types and qualities of waste are actually being recycled. To this end, we also recycle wastes where Aluminium has been used in combination with paper, cardboard, plastics and other organic or combustible materials. Our furnaces and process technologies are actually designed to handle these not-so-easy to handle types of waste and recover the maximum possible amount of metal from them. In terms of GHG emissions the downside of this is, that organic and combustible materials will actually release additional CO₂! These emssions have to be accounted for in scope 1, since they are released from our emission sources. For the German plants we have sampled and analysed the incoming scraps and thus determined the amount of CO₂ emissions originating from the “scrap combustibles”. For the plants Swansea and Eidsvåg, these emissions were calculated based on scrap analogies to the German plants. The following tables and charts show the emissions from our fuel (gas, diesel, propane, heating oil) based scope 1 and the additional scope 1 emissions from the scrap combustibles.

The data on emissions from electricity for 2021 and 2022 were recalculated in March 2024 based on updated emission factors from the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt). Energy use in detail per plant:

2023
2022
2021
2020
2019

The data on emissions from electricity for 2021 and 2022 were recalculated in March 2024 based on updated emission factors from the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt). CO₂ intensity in detail per plant:

(Note: This Carbon accounting method is not applicable to the salt slag recycling operations in Raudsand and Les Islettes.)

2023
2022
2021
2020
2019

Emissions to Air

Emissions to air from Recycling Services’ operations mainly are

  • Dust from handling dusty input and output materials and from our melting processes;
  • Nitrous oxides (NOx) from the natural gas based combustion processes;
  • Hydrogen chloride (HCl) and Hydrogen fluoride (HF), from the flux (Chloride and Fluoride salts) in our furnaces and also from organic contaminants in some scraps;
  • Organic Carbon emissions (NMVOC), resulting from imperfect combustion of organic impurities in some scraps;
  • Traces of Dioxins and Furanes (PCDD/PCDF) from the thermal treatment of scrap which is contaminated with organics.

Data are provided for 2021 and assorted in two groups, for better comparison between different types of production processes:

  • Plants recycling Aluminium and Magnesium scraps, i.e. Grevenbroich, Deizisau, Töging, Swansea, and Eidsvåg;
  • Salt slag recycling plants, i.e. Les Islettes and Raudsand
2023: Emissions to air from scrap recycling operations
2022: Emissions to air from scrap recycling operations
2021: Emissions to air from scrap recycling operations
2022: Emissions to air from salt slag recycling operations
2021: Emissions to air from salt slag recycling operations

Discharges to Water

Our water consumption is characterized by the use of water for sanitary purposes. Only small quantities of water are used for cooling purposes at our Töging and Deizisau site. In Raudsand, large quantities of water have been used from a surface water reservoir as fresh water for our salt slag recycling process. In Les Islettes, all process water was taken from a nearby water body or from rainwater. No waste water was discharged from production, since all water used in the plant would eventually evaporate or leave the plant as humidity in the oxide and salt products.


Other Emissions

Besides emissions to air, our operations may cause noise emissions as well as odour emissions, especially in plants handling and generating salt slag.


Spills

In 2021, 2022, and 2023, we did not experience any significant spills of oil, Diesel, or other water endangering liquids to sewage systems or water bodies. Minor spills were detected quickly and contained via immediate action.


Waste Management

In 2021, we treated a total of approximately 450,000 tons of waste and recovered almost 360,000 tons of recycled Aluminium and Magnesium. The vast majority of our input material is waste:

  • Production scrap, i.e. drosses, skimmings, turnings, foil and sheet scrap, casting scraps, etc.;
  • Post-consumer scrap, i.e. used beverage cans (UBC), scrap from construction applications, incinerator scrap (the Aluminium fraction collected from waste incinerator ashes), etc.

Roughly 90 percent of the waste generated in our own operations consist of salt slag from our rotary furnaces, in 2021 a total of approximately 160,000 tons. The slag consists of salt (a mixture of NaCl and KCl), Aluminium oxide and small amounts of other metal oxides and metal compounds. All our salt slag is being recycled. The next important waste type is filter dust, generated in our filter systems designed to reduce the emissions from our processes to legally permissible levels according to our permits. Again, the majority of this filter dust is being recycled.


Dross

All our drosses are recycled internally, either at the site where they are generated or at another recycling site within the Speira group.


Biodiversity

All Recycling Services sites, except the Deizisau plant, have a long-standing industrial history and are located in areas which have been used for industrial purposes for many decades, in Grevenbroich and Töging even for more than a century. Their operating permits are based on European and local laws and regulations. This legal framework again was designed and issued taking account of all possible environmental impacts, including the impact on biodiversity from emissions to air, water and waste.

For the Deizisau plant, a full environmental impact assessment was done as part of the permitting procedure and no concern related to biodiversity was raised. For our Raudsand plant with its direct discharge of waste water to the adjacent fjord, regular studies on the condition of flora and fauna in the water body have been performed, showing that relevant condition indicators remained constant or have improved over recent years. None of our operations involve new land use. With most of our scraps sourced from local or regional sources also the introduction or spreading of alien species represent a negligible risk. Overall, our impact on biodiversity is defined and minimized by our operation within the given permits and regulatory framework.


In detail: Deizisau 2023

CO₂ emissions in total
Energy use in total
Auxiliary substances use in total
Waste in total
Water use in total
Emissions to air

In detail: Grevenbroich 2023

CO₂ emissions in total
Energy use in total
Auxiliary substances use in total
Waste in total
Water use in total
Emissions to air

In detail: Töging (Aluminium line) 2023

CO₂ emissions in total
Energy use in total
Auxiliary substances use in total
Waste in total
Water use in total
Emissions to air

In detail: Töging (Magnesium line) 2023

CO₂ emissions in total
Energy use in total
Auxiliary substances use in total
Waste in total
Water use in total
Emissions to air

Aluminiumstraße 3 41515 Grevenbroich Germany

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