75% of aluminum
‘Although there are exceptions, aluminum is perfectly recyclable’, our sustainability engineer Anouk Dantuma states. ‘That’s the best part of our products if you ask us. As much as 75% of all aluminum ever made is still used today. That is why Royal Vaassen ensures that all its production’s residual waste is collected for recycling in order to maintain that percentage – and preferably further increase it.
Sorting out
The products that Royal Vaassen produces almost never consist of aluminum only, they are mostly lacquered, coated or laminated onto plastic films or paper. The recycling company knows exactly how to handle this. There’s a lot of material coming in in their facilities, you can’t even imagine. The recycler sorts out all the aluminum and ensures a balanced mix is melted in the oven to facilitate recycling.
Fuel for the oven
The layers of lacquers, adhesives and plastics on our products burn in that oven and directly form the fuel that keeps the oven at the right temperature. The aluminum however does not burn, it melts. This leaves aluminum in its pure form, ready for an aluminum producer to turn into a new alloy. Without compromising on quality the basis has been forged for a new product. That’s how we take care of the valuable material that aluminum is – as we consider it to be our responsibility.’
