Some of the aluminium industry’s most prominent customers including Ferrari and Nespresso convened with European and Italian policymakers to discuss the soaring demand for aluminium as a key driver of a visionary, innovative and resource-efficient Europe. Participants also exchanged views on policy solutions that will allow the EU to better support producers in meeting customer needs.
Testifying to the unique benefits of aluminium in buildings, world-renowned architect Massimiliano Fuksas recounted "For many years now we have developed and refined techniques to translate complex shapes into optimised building geometries… It’s about ethics; aluminium is not only a versatile material to use in innovative buildings, it is infinitely recyclable”.
CEO of Nespresso Italy Fabio Degli Esposti added “Two key reasons drive our use of this noble material: it is a responsible choice in terms of environmental protection as aluminium is 100% recyclable, and represents a guarantee for the preservation of coffee’s organoleptic properties thanks to its unique properties.”
On the importance of streamlining competitiveness goals into EU policy, Claudio De Vincenti, Italian Vice-Minister for Economic Development commented: "The Italian Government committed during this six-month presidency of the EU to ensuring that the European Council takes competitiveness as a benchmark against which to measure all European policies, using already available tools to assess impact on competitiveness and which are also applicable to the aluminium sector.” He added, “Aluminium is of fundamental importance as an input for a large number of European and Italian industries that combine the virtues of tradition and the potential of the future”.
On the unique challenges facing the industry, Chairman of the EAA Roeland Baan concluded “Aluminium sees a growing demand but decreasing production, this is the European paradox. And for what reason? Essentially due to regulatory costs. It is necessary to implement policies at EU level that offset the burden of costs for the most exposed energy-intensive industries that cannot pass through the cost of climate and energy policies. Equally important is to reduce the increasing exports of aluminium scrap that have to be considered as leakage of Europe’s energy bank. This is crucial for Europe to achieve energy independence."
For more information: http://www.alueurope.eu