Recycled aluminium

Your part has been something else before.

Car parts, drink cans, road signs, facade products. Remelted, re-alloyed to standard and cast into something new. Aluminium can be recycled indefinitely without loss of quality.

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What secondary aluminium is

Secondary aluminium is recycled aluminium. Our raw material is recovered from aluminium products that have already lived a life — car parts, drink cans, road signs, facade products and other everyday goods.

The scrap is collected, sorted and remelted. It is then re-alloyed into full-value casting alloys to international standards. That last step is the point, and it is where most people misunderstand.

Our raw material comes from Metallco at Toten. It is the only named supplier in our value chain, and we name it because that makes the story checkable rather than merely pleasant.

Why aluminium suits this so well: the metal can be recycled over and over without loss of quality. That is not true of every material. Around 75 per cent of all aluminium ever extracted is still in use. The comparable figure for plastic is around 6 per cent.

Remelting also takes a fraction of the energy of primary production. That is by far the largest climate effect in the whole chain — larger than transport, larger than production, larger than anything else we do.

Does using recycled metal make the part worse?

No. But the question deserves a proper answer, not just a no.

What determines the properties of your part is the alloy designation — not whether the metal is primary or secondary. A casting alloy is defined by its chemical composition: how much silicon, copper, magnesium and iron it contains, within stated ranges. If the metal is delivered to that standard, it behaves as the standard says, regardless of where the atoms have been before.

That is precisely why the remelter re-alloys the scrap rather than simply melting it. The job consists of analysing the melt and adjusting the composition so it hits the specification.

Where there genuinely is a difference: most aluminium die casting alloys were developed for secondary metal in the first place and are very common. For certain special applications where the requirement is an extremely low tolerance for particular trace elements, primary metal may be specified. If you have such a specification, say so in the enquiry.

What you should ask for: the alloy designation on the quotation, not a description. Recycled aluminium is an origin. EN AC-xxxxx is a specification.

Which specific alloys we run is stated on request. We have not published the list yet, and we will not write up one we have not confirmed.

Datablad

Aluminium, in figures

General material data for pure aluminium. Values for the specific casting alloys we run are given on request.

Machine park

Processes in house: Pressure die casting (aluminium and zinc), gravity die casting, CNC turning, CNC milling, boring, heat treatment, blasting
Processes we do not have: Sand casting, toolmaking, anodising, powder coating
CAM software: Autodesk Fusion 360
Number of die casting machines: Available on request
Clamping force: Available on request
Hot or cold chamber: Available on request
Maximum shot weight: Available on request
Platen size and maximum die height: Available on request
Gravity casting stations: Available on request
Maximum mould size, gravity: Available on request
Melting furnaces and melting capacity: Available on request
CNC lathes: Available on request
Maximum turning diameter and length: Available on request
CNC mills: Available on request
Milling work envelope: Available on request
Boring machine: Available on request
Heat treatment furnace: Available on request
Blasting equipment: Available on request
Automation: Available on request
Machining operations: CNC turning, CNC milling, boring, tapping, sawing, grinding
Machining experience: More than 30 years år
Number of axes, milling: Available on request
Heat treatment applies to: Gravity die cast aluminium parts
Heat treatment — effect: Higher tensile strength and higher ultimate strength
Tempers we run: Available on request
Blasting: In house
Anodising: Via subcontractor — aluminium only, zinc cannot be anodised
Powder coating: Via subcontractor
Finishing subcontractors: Available on request
Die ownership: The customer owns the tool. We procure it, specify it for our machines and maintain it.
Typical tooling cost: Available on request
Die life, aluminium: Available on request
Die life, zinc: Available on request
Storage and insurance of customer-owned dies: Available on request
Shift pattern: Available on request

Alloys

Metals: Aluminium and zinc
Feedstock form: Ingot from established suppliers
Aluminium supplier: Metallco, Toten, Norway — secondary aluminium realloyed against international standards
Aluminium melting point: 660 °C °C
Aluminium casting temperature: 680–700 °C °C
Alloy selection: Made together with the customer, as part of the design review
Aluminium alloys, pressure die casting: Available on request
Aluminium alloys, gravity: Available on request
Zinc alloys: Available on request
Customer-specified alloy: Available on request
Material certificate: Available on request
Melt and batch traceability: Available on request
Recycled content: Available on request

Tolerances and metrology

Tolerance grade as cast: Available on request
Tolerance grade after machining: Available on request
Tightest tolerance on a single dimension: Available on request
Documented example — critical tolerances as cast: Garden equipment bracket: bearing fit and pressure tightness held as cast, with no subsequent machining
Surface roughness as cast: Available on request
Surface roughness after blasting: Available on request
Measuring equipment: Available on request
First article inspection (FAI): Available on request
Measurement report on delivery: Available on request
In-process control: Available on request
Pressure tightness testing: Available on request

Part sizes

Part weight: From a few grams to several kilos Estimat
Maximum part envelope: Available on request
Maximum projected area: Available on request
Minimum wall thickness, aluminium: Available on request
Minimum wall thickness, zinc: Available on request
Minimum wall thickness, gravity: Available on request
Minimum draft angle: Available on request
Minimum cored hole: Available on request
Insert casting: Available on request
Multi-cavity tooling: Available on request

Series and lead time

Response to an enquiry: Within 24 hours timer
Formal quotation with final files: Within 24 hours timer
Indicative minimum series, pressure die casting: A few thousand parts per year or per order
Indicative minimum series, gravity: A fifth to a tenth of the pressure die casting volume
Typical series size in production: Available on request
Lead time from tool order to first sample: Available on request
Time from sample to approved series start: Available on request
Lead time in running series: Available on request
Annual capacity: Available on request
Available capacity: Available on request
Call-off and stock holding: Available on request
Added lead time for external finishing: Available on request
Prototypes and pre-series: Available on request

Quality

Code of conduct: Published — covering environment, health and safety, legal compliance, employment practice, ethics, supplier requirements and anti-corruption
ILO reference in supplier requirements: Yes — prohibition on child labour, coercion and physical punishment at suppliers
Norwegian Transparency Act: Not covered — below all three thresholds. Publishes supplier requirements voluntarily.
Confidentiality: A business principle — every product example on this site is anonymised, and customers are not named without consent
Industry membership: The Norwegian Foundry Technical Association
Certified quality system (ISO 9001): Available on request
Environmental certification (ISO 14001 / Eco-Lighthouse): Available on request
IATF 16949 (automotive): Available on request
Inspection routines: Available on request
Nonconformance and complaint handling: Available on request
Scrap rate / on-time delivery: Available on request
Supplier audit: Available on request
EPD and carbon accounting: Available on request

Ask for the alloy designation

Send the enquiry with the requirements the part has to meet, and we will propose an alloy — and explain why.

Submit a request