Surface treatment of the future

Alucol in Neer, Limburg, has been anodizing aluminum for a wide variety of applications since 1971. According to commercial manager Roger Cremer, it is the surface treatment of the future. And he underlines that statement with a number of powerful arguments, using as a textbook example the makeover of the seventies icon Montgomery Parc in Brussels.

According to Roger, Alucol is an atypical anodizing company. "We have belonged to the Swiss BWB Group since 2016 with 12 branches in Switzerland and Germany. The specialty of the group is anodizing in the broadest sense of the word: for industry, aerospace, medical and architecture. Apart from anodizing standard profiles, we are also very strong in specials: from tiny objects to very large shapes and lengths." Alucol is Qualanod certified, an international quality label for anodizing aluminum, and works daily with approximately one hundred employees to sustainably preserve aluminum. 

Favorable LCA

In doing so, we immediately hit a 'sensitive' point. Roger: "We are still regularly confronted with parties who qualify anodizing as environmentally harmful. Nothing could be further from the truth, because if you consider the LCA, as recorded in the environmental databases, anodizing scores better than any other surface treatment. It is the best surface treatment you can get. The technique closes the top layer of the aluminum, so to speak, so that the environment can no longer affect the aluminum, while maintaining the natural appearance of the aluminum. Anodized aluminum is therefore also widely used in aggressive environments, such as near factories or on the coast. The technique also lends itself perfectly to playing with color on a building, without compromising on quality."

Reuse

A "hot topic" in the industry is the use of recycled aluminum. "In general, people are not always enamored with this, because of allegedly lower quality. At Alucol, we think differently and only encourage the use of recycled material. After all, it pushes the industry to be conscious about building materials," says Roger. "We also ensure that the quality is guaranteed, even if in some cases it requires some adjustment in the process. After all, it's a shame not to give usable aluminum a second life at the end of a building's life and offer it as post-consumer scrap. Fortunately, that realization is coming more and more. Montgomery Parc in Brussels is a textbook example. The 1970s office complex is being renovated, and we are de-anodizing, cleaning and re-anodizing the aluminum facade slats."

Another aspect as to why anodizing facade parts is increasingly in the picture is due to the negative experiences of coated materials in facade fires. "A lot of smoke develops. With anodized products, you don't have that. So in all respects it is the surface treatment of the future." Roger therefore expects that the demand for anodized products will only increase. Alucol is prepared for that. "We have fully digitized our processes and can inform our customers in real time about the status of orders and lead times. We have made considerable strides in this in recent years and are among the top anodizing companies for good reason."