Reducing Environmental Impacts of Aluminium Cable Recycling Process with Life Cycle Assessment Methodology

Abstract

Life cycle impact of European generic primary and secondary aluminium are well defined. However specific recycling processes are not available in literature. In this study, the environmental assessment of cable recycling processing is examined using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The data come from a recycling plant (MTB Recycling) in France. MTB process relies only on mechanical separation and optical sorting processes on shredder cables. The LCA results demonstrate huge environmental benefits for aluminium recycled in comparison with primary aluminium. This work was done firstly to document specific environmental impact of MTB recycling process in comparison with traditional aluminium recycling smelting. Secondly, to provide an environmental overview of the process steps in order to reduce the environmental impact of this recycling pathway. Using the identified hotspots from the LCA for the MTB specific recycling process for aluminium cables, we were able to provide help for designers to carry on reducing the environmental impact of the technologies used during the recycling pathway. This paper focuses on LCA results and implementations on the process for reducing the environmental impact.