Aluminium Dunkerque installs €13 million recycling furnace

Aluminium Dunkerque has inaugurated a melting furnace dedicated to aluminium recycling. It said its €13 million furnace 8 will allow it to recycle 7,000 tonnes of aluminium waste each year and to produce an additional 20,000 tonnes of metal with a low carbon footprint.

This represents a 10% reduction in CO₂ emissions per tonne of ingots produced, i.e. 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ avoided each year, and 96 GWh of electricity consumption avoided

The furnace also created an additional eight jobs.

Furnace 8 is part of a broader approach to reindustrialisation and the reduction of imports of high-carbon aluminium.

Guillaume de Goÿs, CEO of Aluminium Dunkerque, said: “Each year, France still exports nearly 500,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap that could be processed domestically.

“By enabling on-site processing, Aluminium Dunkerque strengthens national sovereignty in critical metals while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

With an output of 10 tonnes per hour, Furnace 8 integrates best-available technologies, notably oxy-fuel burners (natural gas and oxygen), which reduce emissions from the melting process.

The furnace is also equipped with an internal industrial water recycling system, eliminating any overuse of water resources.

The alloys produced by Aluminium Dunkerque are used in the automotive sector, which is focused on reducing carbon emissions throughout the supply chain.

Thanks to this new furnace, the plant can now offer its customers an additional volume of recycled aluminium with a low environmental impact, to directly support the decarbonisation of the industry.

Aluminium Dunkerque is the last major primary aluminium plant established in France.

It specialises in the production of slabs and ingots in alloys designed for applications in the automotive, defense, transport and packaging sectors, among others.

It produces 300,000 tonnes of aluminium a year.