Aluminum

Schools around the UK can now benefit from new multidisciplinary teaching resources on aluminium recycling. The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) has launched the new resources for schools with free curriculum-linked activities for pupils aged seven to 14. The resources, which can be used across several subjects including geography, design and technology, English and ICT, are hosted on a new dedicated website www.learningaluminium.co.uk

The Aluminium Life Cycle resources are based around short films with supporting lesson and activity plans. Younger students are guided around the aluminium recycling ‘loop’ by three animated characters: Ally the aerosol, Alex the drink can and Freddy the foil tray - who between them explain aluminium’s material properties, many uses and the importance of recycling. A second version of the film and resources is also available for older students. The project has been co-funded by Unilever and by Alupro members, Novelis and Contital i2R.

Diana Caldwell, Marketing & Communications Manager of Alupro says: “Learning Aluminium is the result of extensive research conducted with teachers about how best to link aluminium to the curriculum. As an industry we are keen to ensure tomorrow’s consumers, recyclers, designers and engineers appreciate the value of aluminium, and this is reflected in the support the project has attracted from all sectors of the industry.”

The Learning Aluminium website also features the aluminium industry’s popular design & technology schools resource, the Alu D&T Challenge, which includes a national competition to encourage students to think about the importance of sustainable design.

The Alu D&T Challenge teaches students about the material properties and sustainability potential of aluminium. It has been designed to help young designers realise the contribution aluminium makes to the world we live in through a wide variety of uses and products from smartphones to cars, packaging to buildings.

Lesson plans, design briefs, stimulus sheets and guidance are available for teachers to support the D&T curriculum for 11-14 year olds throughout the UK. This year’s competition sets challenges in three design categories focusing on transport, building and packaging. The aim is to inspire students to really get creative and design a product for the future using aluminium. This year’s competition has attracted sponsorship from across the aluminium industry and its customers. Main sponsors1 are Alupro, the Aluminium Federation, Novelis UK Ltd., Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products and Jaguar Land Rover, with additional support from Alcoa and Befesa.

Entries will be assessed by a panel of judges from across industry, the sponsors and academia. The winning student and team in each of the three design challenges will win a desktop 3D printer (worth £600) for their school, plus £100 in vouchers. There will also be prizes awarded to runners up and all shortlisted schools.

In addition, the individual designer voted the judges’ favourite will win a trip to Germany, including a visit to the Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products facility at Grevenbroich near Dusseldorf. The plant is the company’s largest aluminium production site in Germany and produces 440,000 tonnes of aluminium annually for customers including the packaging, automotive and construction industries.

Diana Caldwell adds: “We are excited to see how teachers will respond to the new Learning Aluminium materials, and also to see the students’ entries to the D&T Challenge. We hope to attract as many schools as possible to the Challenge, which encourages creative and sustainable thinking about aluminium – a highly versatile and infinitely recyclable material.”

The Alu D&T Challenge competition launches at the beginning of the 2015 autumn term. The resources and full details of the competition are available online at www.learningaluminium.co.uk/aludtchallenge

Alcoa, headquartered in New York and Pittsburgh, has signed contract valued at approximately $1 billion with Airbus to provide high-tech, multimaterial aerospace fastening systems, according to the company. The deal is Alcoa’s largest fastener contract ever with the aircraft manufacturer. Alcoa says its fasteners fly on every Airbus platform.

“Our growing aerospace capabilities, technology strength and global, first-rate customer service continue to strengthen Alcoa’s decades-long partnership with Airbus,” says Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld. “Alcoa is proud to partner with Airbus to provide breakthrough technologies for some of the most advanced aircraft in the world.”

Alcoa’s fasteners will be used to assemble some of Airbus’s latest high-growth airplanes, including the A350 XWB, Airbus’ newest commercial airplane, and the A320neo. In addition, Airbus will use Alcoa’s fastening systems for longer-running platforms, including the A330, according to Alcoa.

As part of this agreement, Alcoa says it will supply advanced fastening systems, such as those that enhance the assembly of aircraft panels and engine pylons on newer airplanes with sophisticated design features.

Alcoa’s fasteners are made using a variety of materials, including stainless steel, titanium and nickel-based superalloys, which improve fatigue life, enable lightning strike protection and improve wear and reusability on conventional and composite aircraft, the company says. Alcoa will produce these fastening systems at 14 of its global manufacturing facilities.

Alcoa acquired global titanium company RTI International Metals, aerospace components manufacturer TITAL and global jet engine parts leader Firth Rixson in an effort to grow its aerospace business. Alcoa also has grown organically. It opened the world’s largest aluminum-lithium facility in Lafayette, Indiana, launched expansions to increase jet engine parts production in La Porte, Indiana, and Hampton, Virginia, began installation of advanced aerospace plate manufacturing capabilities in Davenport, Iowa, announced plans to double its coatings capabilities for jet engine components in Whitehall, Michigan, and announced an investment in technology that strengthens the metallic structures of traditional and additive manufactured parts, also in Whitehall.

Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings, a business unit of Alcoa, is a leading worldwide designer and manufacturer of fastening systems and rings, including specialty fasteners, fluid fittings, assembly components, installation systems and seamless rings for aerospace and industrial applications. Headquartered in Torrance, California, the company has more than 8,700 employees at 39 manufacturing and distribution/logistics locations in 13 countries.

Aluminium products manufacturer says recycling plant will take used aluminium beverage cans and reprocess them back to raw metal