Aluminium International Today Issue
May/June 2020

Life after 'Lockdown'

What a difference a few months makes...like many others at the moment, I am writing this column from the comfort of my home-made office. Luckily enough, the set up was already in place, but it had been taken over by our attempts at building a ‘home gym’. Two words that when put together make an oxymoron!

Occasionally swapping my office chair for an exercise ball makes the situation seem a bit more jovial, but there is no hiding from the unsettling feeling in the air.

While some parts of the world are slowly re-opening and areas of our industry have never stopped producing, albeit at a slightly reduced capacity, who knows when or if the effects of this global ‘Lockdown’ will be felt.

This issue takes a look at how aluminium manufacturers in the UK joined the fight against COVID-19 and produced aluminium for medical equipment and food packaging to keep the nation going. We also look at the changes required in plants as workers return.

There is also a dedicated feature, which looks at finding the value in aluminium ‘waste' and TOMRA launches a technology to sort magnesium from aluminium page 25.

And, as business and supply chains in China start the road to recovery, we’ve put together a dedicated supplement to understand how new technologies can play a part in reducing costs, increasing efficiencies and optimising their manufacturing during this challenging time page 61.