Sustainbility

Manufacturers are increasingly committed to seeking sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. Thus, 80% of the aluminium profile that Itesal manufactures is made from recycled raw materials. Sustainability and recycling of raw materials have always been one of our priorities. Aluminium can be recycled continuously without losing its original properties, which is not the case of other materials.

Over the years, due to globalisation, economic changes and irregular practices, natural resources have been exploited recklessly. Many experts warn of the problems that may arise in the future: from the depletion of these resources to environmental consequences. Therefore, Itesal is aware of these warnings and implements measures and solutions. The aluminium systems we manufacture have been produced with almost 80% recycled raw materials, which means reducing the impact on the environment (taking into account that the electricity consumed in manufacturing one tonne of recycled aluminium is 95 times less than that used in manufacturing it without recycling).
 Aluminium is a durable, resistant material with a very high number of applications. Its life cycle is infinite, a quality that makes it sustainable. Itesal works to protect the environment by reusing resources and raw materials used to manufacture aluminium profiles and systems.

In conclusion, the circular life cycle is a great help to the environment. Itesal is committed to sustainability regarding the use of aluminium and concrete.
Thanks to eco-labelling, following international ISO standards, the EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) has been developed, a labelling that takes into account numerous variables and environmental information such as water consumption, energy, greenhouse gas emissions...
Itesal will continue to work to promote new measures that favour recycling and increase sustainability in its production processes.
Given the characteristics of aluminium and its ability to be used in casting, moulding, extrusion, rolling or drawing, this noble metal has been used in a wide number of applications in modern life.

It seems unimaginable that everything from a tiny cable of a pair of headphones we use every day, to the complex watertight structures of an international space station, to any electronic equipment around us and/or the light switch in the room you are in, is or has parts made of aluminium. That is not what is really surprising, but that all the things we are going to list can end up interchanging their functions by recycling aluminium as well as its versatility.
No other building material is capable of making the miracle of a car becoming a window, a tin becoming a door, or an old window becoming a façade cladding. Everything is interconnected and what today was melted aluminium, giving shape to an industrial part or a car, will be transformed into an extrusion billet to produce profiles for heat diffusion in electronic equipment. The most wonderful thing about this nearly infinite process is that aluminium never loses its properties and features as a metal, in a process that only uses 5% of the energy that would be needed to extract alumina from bauxite. Hence, a sustainable balance with the environment is maintained.

The aluminium recycling process has now reached households, where in recent years a number of disposable aluminium materials such as beverage cans, aluminium foil, or bricks containing different household products have begun to be added, which after an exhaustive processing system, recover their aluminium content and are reintroduced into the aluminium chain.
The reclaimer (a company in charge of recovering aluminium in different forms) collects and sorts it out from other materials so that once it is cleaned, it is reduced to scrap blocks that will go to the smelter or refiner who will turn it into ingots, billets or rolled products, ready to be returned to the process of different industries.
Thus, aluminium maintains a sustainable balance in the society it serves, not generating waste and attaining the ultimate goal of the three "Rs", Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
One of the oldest recycling processes that began in the early 20th century.
Since then it has continued to grow year after year.

Contrary to the current trend where recycling is seen as something modern and typical of recent years, motivated by a conservationist trend that increasingly leads us to have a greater environmental awareness, the recycling of aluminium is a very old recovery process. In fact, it was widely used in World War II. Although, it was in the 1960s, when it became necessary to simply recycle the entire volume of aluminium used in such a widespread way, ranging from soft drink cans to uses in architecture and industry. In this sense, aluminium only offers advantages, because not only is it very easy to recycle, just melt it, but this process is simple compared to the extraction of bauxite ore and if that were not enough, it is also cheaper, 5% of the energy used in the mineral system is necessary to obtain recycled aluminium. Another great advantage is that it does not lose any of its original properties in this process, which is what it has to be an element of the periodic table.

It is worth noting that for other materials such as plastic (PVC and petroleum by-products, in general) to be recycled, have to be subsidised and encouraged by governments with advertising campaigns so that their collection is implemented. However, that does not happen with aluminium, which does not need any subsidy, as its recycling chain is natural and creates employment and wealth, unlike other materials that nobody wants to recycle.

The process is very technical simple.

1) Large quantities of aluminium are collected from old windows and doors.
2) The material is cleaned of residues from other metals with electromagnets as well as physical and chemical processes.
3) Then, it is chopped up to minimise the volume and facilitate its use by the machinery
4) They are melted in a blast furnace over  750ºC to obtain a clean casting.
5) Once melted, they are shaped into cylinders (billets) for extrusion.

Aluminium collection rate in the construction sector is the highest of all sectors and ranges between 92 and 98%. It is followed by the transport/automotive industry (95%) as well as packaging industry (50%).

However, that is not the end of aluminium's life cycle. It can be melted down and recycled over and over, creating wealth and welfare in each of its endless lives.

The UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) approved in 2015, are aimed at making our world and lifestyle both balanced and sustainable, a logical development of progress in which all people, living beings, resources and production and consumption systems maintain a logical balance.

The women and men who work at Itesal Ventanas do not want to and cannot be oblivious to this reality. Thus, we have adopted eight of the 17 SDGs that most influence us, which are related the production activities we carry out on a daily basis.

In short, at Itesal, we believe that we are not the sole focus of our business activity, that our life and work are intimately related to the environment and therefore to the planet. This means we are just another thread in the fabric, which we are all part thereof and we all depend thereon.

Aluminium profiles can be manufactured as standard and/or customized products on request. This leads to a wide variety of profiles with compositions that can be very different from one design to another. This EPD covers four product groups with the average composition. Our profiles do not contain any substances included in the list of Substances of Very High Concern with a concentration of more than 0.1% by weight.
Aluminium products are highly recyclable with the advantage that there is no loss of inherent properties of the metal after processing. During the production of aluminium profiles, all post-industrial scrap is sent to recycling centres for the production of secondary aluminium billet. Primary aluminium billet manufacturers operate these recycling centres. In some cases, profile manufacturers with large outputs have in-house scrap melting furnaces with which they produce secondary aluminium billet; regardless of whether they procure primary and secondary aluminium billet externally.
Likewise, when a building product made of aluminium reaches the end of its useful life, it is collected in a comprehensive manner. Then, it is sent to recycling centres for the production of secondary aluminium billets.