Creation of the first French low-carbon aluminum production capacity capable of sorting all types of aluminum waste

The climate plan sets the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050. For the building sector, which accounts for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions on a national scale*, decarbonization appears to be a major challenge. The constituent elements of buildings must be reinvented without delay in a low-carbon version.

To do this, the Corre (extrusion and powder coating of aluminum profiles) and Liébot (joinery, mainly aluminum, extrusion and powder coating of aluminum profiles) families are investing together for the future of the profession by creating the first French site capable of sorting all types of aluminum scrap and transform them into low-carbon aluminum billets.

Aluminum scrap currently being lost to other markets

France currently has two** foundries producing aluminum billets exclusively from “white” aluminum waste, ie raw aluminium. In the absence of an outlet, the aluminum scrap generated in the factory (in which the aluminum is lacquered and generally stripped) and end-of-life aluminum (from the deconstruction of products that have already lived), leave the territory. to be recycled abroad. They rarely return to France.

However, in the years to come, the quantity of end-of-life aluminum, resulting from deconstruction, will only increase in the territory, in particular due to the Tertiary Decree of July 2019, which sets obligations to reduce consumption. of Energy in buildings for tertiary use of more than 1 m².

There is an urgent need to set up a real "closed loop" to reduce the carbon weight of aluminum structures, particularly in the context of RE2020. End-of-life aluminum products (windows, facades, railings, partitions, etc.) will thus be recycled to become new building products, with all operations carried out in France.

Tomorrow, the first foundry capable of processing all types of aluminum waste

The Corre and Liébot families join forces to create the first French foundry capable of sorting all types of waste to produce low-carbon aluminium. This will be intended to cover the specific needs of these two groups but also the needs of building professionals.

She will be born in Sainte-Hermine in Vendée. A company, Coralium, was created to enable this activity. A plot of 70 m000 has been identified and will house a 2 m9.000 factory. The project, worth a total of 2 million euros, will lead to the creation of around sixty jobs.

A global and very elaborate industrial process

This foundry will be the first in France to be able to process any type of aluminum waste (pure, lacquered, striped, or end of life). This presupposes a particularly elaborate sorting process, made up of numerous stages and high-performance machines to arrive at a 6060 or 6063 Building quality alloy. Steps of grinding, magnetic separation, sieving, sorting by X-rays, stripping, follow one another to obtain a metal identical to a first fusion.

It will initially have a production capacity of 20.000 tonnes of aluminum billets per year.

A site designed to limit its environmental impact

For the first time, these sorting facilities are located on the same site as the foundry, thus helping to reduce the carbon footprint linked to transport. It will be equipped with the most recent and efficient technologies, in particular with the installation of an electricity production plant which will operate using the heat recovered from the production site, and which will make it possible to reduce the consumption necessary to supply this type of industry.

* https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/construction-et-performance-environnementale-du-batiment
** excluding foundry for internal use