Integrated Approaches to Aluminum Recycling: From Conventional Scrap Processing to Bauxite Residue Valorization

The growing global demand for aluminum, combined with increasing environmental constraints, has intensified the need for more sustainable production and recycling strategies. While conventional aluminum recycling from scrap is well established and highly energy efficient, a significant fraction of aluminum remains inaccessible in industrial residues such as bauxite residue (red mud). Existing studies predominantly address either scrap-based recycling or red mud valorization separately, with limited integration of these approaches within a unified resource efficiency framework. This paper provides a comprehensive review of aluminum recycling technologies with a particular focus on their role in circular economy strategies, and highlights the emerging importance of secondary resource recovery from red mud. A critical assessment of current recycling technologies is presented, emphasizing key challenges such as impurity accumulation, alloy complexity and process limitations. Furthermore, the paper presents a dedicated comparative analysis of both routes, highlighting their complementarity, their differing levels of technological maturity, and a realistic pathway for their combined implementation within a circular economy framework. In doing so, the study bridges the gap between traditional aluminum recycling and alternative secondary resource utilization, distinguishing this review from prior work that has treated these two domains separately, thereby contributing to the development of more sustainable aluminum production systems.