Metal Trade Comax operates an aluminium melting plant for recycling aluminium scrap to produce various aluminium cast alloys. The basis for this is defined aluminium scrap. A large share of that is delivered to the Refiner as loose chips. Before these are loaded into the furnace, they are processed and then pressed into briquettes with automated RUF briquetting systems. The briquetting of the chips, in particular, ensures optimised metal yields and therewith a markedly increased profitability.

Should you just send the metal swarf created during manufacturing to the scrap dealer or should you increase its value by selling it for profit? The GLEICH group discovered the answer to this around ten years ago. Since then, the family-run business has been turning its aluminium swarf into briquettes. These are easy to transport and can be very efficiently melted down. This has proven to be such a cost-effective solution that GLEICH, the specialists in high-quality aluminium cast plates, has over the years commissioned six briquetting machines supplied by RUF, and every year they compress on average 3,800 tonnes of swarf.

Aluminium's recycling cycle begins and ends in melting plants. In between, this light metal is machined in many different industrial operations of diverse branches and ideally is then pressed into a compact briquette using a briquetting system from RUF. But where exactly are chips produced and why does briquetting usually make economic sense?

Briquetting presses maximise the cost effectiveness of metal chip utilisation. Compressed to conveniently sized briquettes and practically free of adhering lubricant, this production residue can be easily stored, transported, and melted down – and also sells very well. Georg Fischer Automobilguss has been running a RUF press of this kind, and profitably since day one. How this is possible will be demonstrated by RUF GmbH on its briquetting presses at the International Foundry Trade Fair GIFA 2011 in Düsseldorf.

Compact and clean aluminium briquettes instead of bulky chips with clinging cooling emulsion lubricants. Höfer Metalltechnik have increased the profitability of their branch in Hettstedt thanks to a briquetting press from RUF. This producer of aluminium profiles smelts the aluminium chips in the form of briquettes in their own foundry and thereby replace expensively purchased raw material. The benefit comes to around 35,000 Euro in savings per year.

Ludwig Frischhut GmbH and Co. KG have closed the circle on  their raw material cycle by utilising a briquetting press from RUF: cast chips produced during the machining of parts for water supply and sewage disposal are pressed to solid briquettes and then melted in the in-house foundry and cast to form new raw products. The melting of the loose chips would however not be possible. Therefore the company is saving money as the sales price for loose chips is markedly under the purchase price for raw materials for the foundry.

Resources are finite. Since prices are very volatile, especially for metals, it is important to take countermeasures. One such countermeasure is using high-quality briquetting presses like those produced by RUF. This lays the foundation for the best possible reuse of metal chips in the metal cycle – in line with a closed-loop recycling strategy.

Aluminium is scare at the moment; the price has risen sharply this year.  However, using circular economy models made possible through high quality briquetting presses from RUF, model builders and mold makers as well as other aluminium processing companies can cut costs and secure material replenishment.  

The latest addition to the RUF Maschinenbau portfolio, the low-cost RUF Formika, is a new briquetting system designed for the metals industries. Configured for small to mid sized batches in a wide range of applications, it frees a lot of storage space and simplifies logistics, making it in addition an attractive investment for production companies generating only small chip quantities.