EAA Statement on the ENVI Committee vote on CO2 emission rules | |
 | 2013-04-24 Today Members of the European Parliament called for the end of biased rules that are not encouraging lightweighting, one of the most efficient ways to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles. Following votes in the Industry and Energy (ITRE) and Transport (TRAN) Committees, the ENVI Committee members confirmed the European Parliament’s support for moving away from purely mass-based CO2 emission rules to a technologically neutral methodology giving the manufacturers the option to choose between a mass and a footprint (size) based target without hampering industry’s certainty and predictability. |
Commission proposal creates possibilities for smarter truck designs: Aluminium can help to make the next generation trucks safer | |
| 2013-04-15 The revised Weight and Dimensions’ Directive can make a real difference in terms of safety and sustainability. That’s why the European Aluminium Association (EAA) today welcomes the proposals from the European Commission to review the Weights and Dimensions Directive 96/53/EC. “Allowing a smarter truck cabin design enables truck manufacturers to make cabins both safer and more aerodynamic“, said EAA Director General Gerd Götz. “As such, the revised Directive will improve both the fuel efficiency of trucks and safety for users.” |
Report on economic benefits of low CO2 vehicles shows key role for lightweighting | |
| 2013-03-19 The European Aluminium Association (EAA) welcomes the results of a comprehensive study on the “Economic Assessment of Low Carbon Vehicles”, undertaken by Cambridge Econometrics and Ricardo-AEA, and supported by various organisations, such as the European Climate Foundation, Eurelectric, CLEPA and the EAA as well as individual companies like General Electric and Nissan. The study shows that the move towards reducing CO2 emissions from vehicles can have a positive impact on job creation and the economy, thanks to: • increased spending on innovative technologies in Europe; |
Aluminium boosts energy performance of buildings | |
 | 2013-03-13 To illustrate how the energy performance of existing buildings can be upgraded with aluminium products, the European Aluminium Association (EAA) published three renovation case studies and performed life-cycle-assessments focusing on greenhouse gas emissions. “The three analyses concluded CO2 payback periods of aluminium renovation systems range between one to five years, depending on the level of investment and on the amount of renovation works to be executed” said Bernard Gilmont, Building Director at EAA. Independent expertise has been involved in order to secure the scientific validity and technical quality of the results. |
A good recycling performance for aluminium closures | |
 | 2013-02-07 Aluminium can be recycled over and over without any loss of quality. This is also true for aluminium closures used for wine, spirits, water and olive oil. Throughout Europe on average 40 per cent of aluminium closures are currently recycled. The advantage of aluminium closures is that they can be collected either together with the mixed packaging fraction or together with the glass collection stream. The aluminium can be easily extracted from both material streams so that it can be recycled back into aluminium. The national packaging collection and recycling systems in Europe vary considerably as they are dependent on the respective national packaging waste legislation. Depending on the collection and sorting infrastructure in place recycling rates for closures vary and can range from over 80% in Germany to about 40-50% in countries like the UK and Italy. Countries with relatively small market shares might already recycle 20-30% of all aluminium closures. |
New EAA Director General, Gerd Götz, sets the aluminium industry’s sustainability on top of the agenda | |
| 2013-01-17 The European Aluminium Association (EAA) announces today the appointment of Gerd Götz as its new Director General. Dr Götz takes office at a time when the aluminium industry becomes ever more important to the EU’s industrial and green agenda. Introducing the new Director General, EAA’s Chairman Roeland Baan explained: “Gerd’s appointment comes at a crucial time for the association with the on-going EU Commission’s fitness check on the aluminium sector (…) “ |
Aleris’ Roeland Baan new Chairman of the European Aluminium Association | |
| | 2013-01-14 The European Aluminium Association (EAA) is pleased to announce that Roeland Baan – Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, Global Rolled & Extruded Products at Aleris – has been appointed as the new Chairman of the association for the period 2013-2015. Effective as of January 1st 2013, Mr Baan succeeds Tadeu Nardocci (Novelis). “I am delighted to take on this leadership role in our industry, especially in these challenging times for Europe’s competitiveness,” Mr Baan said. “I am confident the association will be committed more than ever to safeguarding the future of the aluminium industry in Europe and promote the use of this permanent material that is part of the solution to achieving EU sustainability goals”. |
Aluminium Closures – Turn 360° | |
 | 2012-11-26 Today’s roll-out of the multilingual website www.aluminium-closures.org marks the start of the pan-European promotional campaign titled ‘Aluminium Closures – Turn 360˚’, specially designed to enhance general awareness of the benefits of aluminium closures for wine. The campaign, by the leading manufacturers of aluminium closures and organised through the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA), presents closures made of alu-minium as an intelligent and economic alternative to other closure systems. Aluminium closures offer many benefits in areas like taste and quality, sustainability and recycling, convenience, technology, cost efficiency, and design. |
Reducing CO2 emissions from cars and vans: technological neutrality to lighten the load | |
 | 2012-11-07 Future legislation on CO2 from cars and vans must be technology neutral, the European Aluminium Association (EAA) warned at its event organised today in the European Parliament. The two proposals, which are currently being debated in the European Parliament and the Council and which set a framework for CO2 emissions reduction by 2020 for cars and vans, need to take into full consideration the contribution of all sustainable technologies such as lightweighting and ensure technological neutrality. EAA estimates that reducing the mass of a car by 100 kg would cut CO2 emissions by 8 grams per kilometer. Lightweighting could greatly contribute to achieving the objective set in the White Paper on Transport to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the transport sector by 60%. View the ICCT presentation by Peter Mock - View the EAA presentation by Bernard Gilmont - View the FIA presentation by Laurianne Krid |
Call for concrete actions to preserve Europe’s manufacturing industry | |
 | 2012-10-10 The aluminium industry welcomes the announcement by the European Commission of a fitness check for the aluminium sector and calls for concrete actions to preserve Europe’s manufacturing base. The Communication on the mid-term review of Europe’s industrial policy released today by the Commission was long-awaited by the aluminium industry that is facing increasingly difficult economic conditions in Europe. “We, at the European Aluminium Association, in particular welcome the European Commission’s announced fitness check for the aluminium industry, as it will make EU authorities fully aware of the impact of EU legislations on its activities”, said Patrick de Schrynmakers, EAA Secretary General. |
EAA congratulates Brian Simpson, winner of the Transport MEP Award 2012 | |
 | 2012-09-25 “The EAA would like to congratulate Brian Simpson for receiving the MEP Award for Transport. EAA is proud to support this award and shares Mr Simpson’s commitment to making transport more effective and sustainable” said Patrick de Schrynmakers, EAA Secretary General. Aluminium makes vehicles lighter and thus more fuel efficient. Today’s European average car contains 140 kg of aluminium leading to annual fuel savings of 65 litres per car (See ‘Aluminium Penetration in Cars’ study carried out by Ducker Worldwide on behalf of the EAA). Moreover, aluminium improves safety for all road-users, as light-weighting also reduces the crash energy that needs to be absorbed in an accident. The EAA will continue to work closely with vehicle manufacturers and policy makers to bring the full potential of aluminium solutions to enhance even further the transport sector’s sustainability. Watch the video clip of the MEP Transport award: |
Two out of Three Aluminium Beverage Cans Recycled in Europe! | |
 | 2012-07-16 The overall recycling rate for aluminium beverage cans in the EU 27 including EFTA countries and Turkey increased by 2.4% to 66.7% in 2010. After the difficult economic situation in the previous years the consumption of aluminium beverage cans increased by a further 2 billion units to a total of 36 billion cans in 2010. This means that at least 24 billion aluminium beverage cans were recycled, resulting in a total greenhouse gas saving of 2.5 million tonnes – the equivalent of taking 1 million passenger cars off the roads for a whole year! |
Reducing CO2 emissions from cars: Size matters! | |
| 2012-07-12 Brussels, 11 July 2012: The European Aluminium Association (EAA) welcomes the Commission proposal in the framework of the revision of the rules on CO2 emissions from cars but regrets that the proposal is still promoting a mass-based approach. “We are disappointed that the Commission has once again proposed a regulation that is not technology neutral, since it maintains the mass based calculation method and gives heavier cars the opportunity to emit more CO2,” said Patrick de Schrynmakers, Secretary General EAA. |
Essential and fully recyclable: METALS FOR BUILDINGS alliance calls for better recognition of metals’ contribution to the sustainability and innovative capacity of the building sector | |
| 2012-06-21 21 June 2012 – Brussels: Yesterday the METALS FOR BUILDINGS alliance celebrated the official launch of its campaign that aims to promote the unique strengths of metal products for highly recyclable & sustainable buildings. The Alliance calls for more consistent EU policies in the construction sector to address the unique attributes of metal building products, in particular by better assessing the recyclability of materials. “The EU has many far reaching environmental objectives and is strongly committed to work on the sustainability of construction products in the context of the emerging resource efficiency strategy. The metals represented by our Alliance are essential to bridging the gap between those policy objectives and their effective implementation” said the newly-elected Chairman, Patrick Le Pense. The new alliance wants to see full recognition of metals’ inherent value in terms of sustainable buildings. According to Le Pense “Metals provide society with a material that is 100% recyclable without loss of properties, and as a result, they help minimize the impact on the earth’s resources.” |
EU Sustainable Energy Week 2012: Flexible Packaging Reduces Energy Consumption First | |
| 2012-06-18 Most sustainability energy mantras say “Reduce first and then optimise”, with renewables where possible. |
Recycling and innovation should be key components of the future resource efficiency policies | |
| | 2012-05-24 Following today’s vote in the European Parliament on a Resource-Efficient Europe, the European Aluminium Association (EAA) is calling for recycling and innovation to effectively become key components of future policy choices at EU level. EAA welcomes the focus set by the European Parliament on recyclability and resource efficiency as cornerstones of Europe’s sustainability. Valuable resources can be saved with no loss of quality thanks to recycling and efficient collecting and sorting processes. |
European aluminium industry in need of better support to counteract ETS impact | |
| | 2012-05-22 The new guidelines published today by the European Commission on “certain state aid measures in the context of the ETS” will fail in its objective to prevent carbon leakage as it will not provide the necessary support for Europe’s primary aluminium industry. |
Aluminium use in European cars continues to grow | |
| | 2012-04-16 A study published today by Ducker Worldwide in cooperation with the European Aluminium Association (EAA) shows that the amount of aluminium used per car produced in Europe almost tripled between 1990 and 2012, increasing from 50 kg to 140 kg. This amount is predicted to rise to 160 kg by 2020, and even reach as much as 180 kg if small and medium cars follow the evolution recorded in the upper segments of the automobile industry. The weight savings achieved thanks to this aluminium content will lead to an average annual fuel saving of 65 litres per car. |
EAA presents study on Aluminium for Safer Trucks together with Transport & Environment (T&E) | |
| | 2012-03-20 EAA, together with Transport & Environment (T&E), have presented to the press on 20 March a study on the design of tractor fronts for optimised safety and fuel consumption. The “Safer Trucks” concept brings a valuable contribution to road safety and environment by improving three aspects: passive safety, aerodynamics and safety of vulnerable road users. |
Alufoil Trophy winners demonstrate fresh thinking with existing and new products | |
| | 2012-03-06 Entries for the Alufoil Trophy 2012 showed great originality in developing advanced forms of familiar products as well as some ground breaking new ideas, according to this year’s judges. The competition, organised by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA), attracted 52 entries across five categories and ranged from household goods to packaging, on through to automotive applications and a remarkable survival product. |
Aluminium industry sets out Roadmap to ‘lighten the load’ by 2050 | |
| | 2012-03-01 Today the European Aluminium Association (EAA) presented the “Aluminium 2050 Roadmap to a low-carbon Europe”. Despite the recent and announced closures and curtailments of smelters in Europe, the aluminium industry is committed to further reducing its overall emissions and, as the Roadmap shows, it could reach up to 79% reductions by 2050. |
GDA/DAVR – Aluminium packaging: recycling protects the climate | |
| | 2012-01-26 Rate of recycling rises to new peak level of 86.4% Düsseldorf, 25 January 2012 – For aluminium packaging the positive trend in recycling continues. According to a current study by GVM Gesellschaft für Verpackungsmarktforschung mbH, Mainz, in the year 2010 79,300 tonnes of the 91,800 tonnes on the market were recycled. This equals a rate of recycling of 86.4%. In particular for aluminium beverage cans in the deposit system GVM estimates a rate of return of 96%. This is the highest amount in Europe. |
“Permanent materials” pave the way to a true recycling and resource efficient society | |
| | 2012-01-25 Metal Packaging Europe (MPE), in partnership with Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy MEP, today launched the concept of “permanent materials”, those preserving their material qualities with infinite recyclability. Such materials boost a resource efficient society and have the capability to provide a key and unlimited natural asset for future generations. |
European Aluminium Association launches its new website | |
| | 2011-11-07 EAA, the European Aluminium Association, has launched today its new website: www.alueurope.eu “With our new website which features – along with a vibrant new look – enhanced tools to improve the navigation – EAA has sought to better support its members and all stakeholders with a distinctive public tool to aid in understanding the wide range of policy and technical issues covered by the association”, underlined Erich Cuaz, Public Affairs and Communication manager. |
EAA celebrates the 125th anniversary of the Hall-Héroult Process | |
| | 2011-10-07 The Legacy of the Aluminium Twins In 1886, two young 23-year old inventors simultaneously and independently filed their patents for the production of aluminium: the French Paul Héroult and the American Charles Martin Hall. Known as the Hall-Héroult Process, the invention was based on the fused-salt electrolysis of alumina dissolved in a molten cryolite bath. It gave way to the modern aluminium industry. 125 years later, the process is still used but has been dramatically improved to meet economic, energy and environmental challenges. Consumption jumped from a few thousand tons in 1900 to 50 million tons worldwide nowadays. A third of this metal is produced from recycling. |
Aluminium industry committed to resource efficiency | |
| 2011-09-26 Brussels, 20 September 2011 The aluminium industry has always encouraged EU decision-makers to address the critical issue of metals recycling, which is essential to preserve scarce resources of raw materials and reduce water consumption and CO2 emissions, said Patrick de Schrynmakers, EAA Secretary General. |
Aluminium Beverage Can Recycling Makes Good Progress in Serbia | |
| | 2011-09-19 Belgrade, 15 September 2011 |
From Ashes to Metals – Recycling from Waste-to-Energy bottom ashes contributes to a more “resource efficient” Europe | |
| | 2011-07-27 Copenhagen, 7 September 2011 The main conclusion of the seminar is that collection of metals from bottom ashes can make an important contribution towards a more resource efficient Europe. Speakers from both industries presented the latest environmental and economic scenarios and demonstrated that due to the availability of innovative sorting techniques yields can be considerably increased. |
Aluminium Beverage Can Recycling Rate Hits 64% in Europe! | |
| | 2011-07-27 The overall recycling rate for aluminium beverage cans in the EU 27 including EFTA countries and Turkey increased by 1.2% to 64.3% in 2009. Despite the difficult economic situation the consumption of aluminium beverage cans in wider Europe remained at 34 billion units – it was possible to collect and recycle a further 400 million in addition to the 21 billion cans already recycled. The additional amount of cans recycled results into an extra greenhouse gas saving of 50.000 tons, which is the equivalent of removing 20.000 passenger cars from the road for a whole year! |
Industry establishes the “METALS FOR BUILDINGS” European alliance | |
| | 2011-06-30 Industry establishes the “METALS FOR BUILDINGS” European alliance and calls on EU legislators to consider end-of-life recycling rate of building products as a resource saving indicator. |
The European aluminium industry successfully delivers on safety | |
| | 2011-06-16 More than 50 participants, mainly consisting of safety specialists and managers from plants all over Europe attended the Safety workshop organised by EAA, the European Aluminium Association, in Brussels. The objective of these workshops is to exchange information and gather knowledge about best practices and innovative solutions in order to improve the safety performance within the industry and foster the development of networks among experts in Europe. |
World Grill and Barbecue Championship 2011 And the winner comes from Austria | |
| | 2011-05-30 The World Grill and Barbecue Champion 2011 is Christoph Gollenz. Together with his team Goli & Chef Partie from Austria, he convinced the expert judges at the 2011 World BBQ Championship which was sponsored by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) and held last weekend in Gronau in Germany. |
Metal Packaging Europe launches at Interpack 2011 | |
| | 2011-05-16 Metal Packaging Europe, a new trade body representing the united interests of producers and suppliers of metal packaging across Europe, will launch at this years Interpack, held in Düsseldorf, Germany on 12 – 18 May 2011. |
Happy birthday aluminium! 125 years adding value to society | |
| | 2011-04-11 This year marks the anniversary of a discovery that has not only improved our lives, but plays an eminent role for Europes sustainable development. Safer and more fuel efficient transportation, energy efficient buildings, infinitely recyclable packaging all have been possible with the help of this discovery made 125 years ago which enabled the production and the use of aluminium on an industrial scale. |
White Paper acknowledges lightweighting as a main driver for sustainable transport | |
| | 2011-03-28 The European Aluminium Association (EAA) welcomes todays call for lighter and more efficient vehicles in the Commissions White Paper on Transport and strongly supports the promotion of light-weighting as part of the EUs strategy towards more sustainable transport by 2020. |
EAA launches its ‘Sustainability of the European Aluminium Industry 2010′ report | |
| | 2011-03-16 EAA and its member companies launched in 2002 a pioneering exercise: more than 30 measurable Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) were identified for the production of aluminium in collaboration with the UNEP/ Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), the University of Versailles and an additional peer group of internal and external stakeholders, with the clear intention to monitor their evolution over time and to report it publicly. |
International Aluminium Institute Launches Aluminium Recycling Website | |
| | 2011-02-23
Vienna, 22 February 2011 — The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) Chairman and Hydro CEO Svein Richard Brandtzg today welcomed the launch of a website highlighting the recycling advantages of aluminium products. Recognising the demand from customers, consumers and policymakers around the world for up-to-date and easy to access information, the IAI has developed the site to demonstrate the economic, social and environmental benefits and the future potential of aluminium recycling. |
CO2 emissions from vans | |
| | 2011-02-15 EP vote on CO2 emissions: a missed opportunity Todays vote in the European Parliament on the Regulation on CO2 emissions from vans shows that EU decisionmakers still shy away from using lightweighting as a means to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles, according to the European Aluminium Association (EAA). Instead, the adopted Regulation allows heavier vehicles to emit more CO2. |
Novelis’ Tadeu Nardocci, new chairman of the European Aluminium Association | |
| | 2011-01-05 The European Aluminium Association (EAA) is pleased to announce that Tadeu Nardocci, President of Novelis Europe, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the association. Effective January 1st, 2011, Mr. Nardocci succeeds Alcoa’s Marcos Ramos in this honorary role. |
100 Years of Aluminium Foil | |
| | 2010-12-13 Opening speech by the chairman of the EAA Packaging group : Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of EAA and the EAA Packaging Group I would also like to welcome you at our tasty event here in the centre of Brussels! I welcome in particular our distinguished guests representing some of our most important customer industries as well as the representatives of the European authorities. We are very pleased that you are celebrating together with us the 1st centennial of aluminium foil. |
Aluminium industry celebrates 100 years of aluminium foil | |
| | 2010-12-02 Policy makers, industry stakeholders, NGOs and media representatives were invited to attend an event jointly organised by the European Aluminium Association (EAA) and the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of aluminium foil. The invitees assisted to a live cooking show and could taste quality dishes using aluminium foil. |
Q&A on the situation in Hungary post bauxite residue area failure | |
| | 2010-10-15 Click here to access the Q/A |
Accidental events in Hungary on Monday 4th of October | |
| | 2010-10-05 In the light of the accidental events in Hungary on Monday 4th of October involving a bauxite residue deposit, the European Aluminium Association is fully committed to assist in the assessment of the situation and the origins of this tragedy. “Our thoughts go to the families of the victims in Hungary. The aluminium industry is keen to understand the exact causes of this accident so all security measures are in place to prevent these unprecedented circumstances ever happening again” said Patrick de Schrynmakers, EAA Secretary General. |
EAA in Aluminium Essen Fair 2010 | |
| | 2010-09-21 Almost 900 exhibitors, 18,000 participants, 47 countries represented and several thematic pavilions made the success of this years edition of the Essen Aluminium Trade Fair. This year again, EAA was partner of the largest aluminium fair in the world, and its team was pleased to welcome visitors at the joint EAA-OEA-IAI stand. |
Aluminium Study Featured on The New York Times – Green Blog | |
| | 2010-06-17 The New York Times featured a new study conducted by the University of Aachen for the European Aluminium Association in their influential Green Blog. The study shows that aluminum use in key automotive components can safely reduce vehicle weight by as much as 40 percent, compared to only 11 percent for high-strength steel. Reducing weight with automotive aluminium allows vehicles to increase safety, while providing environmentally-friendly increased performance. |
