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SECONDARY ALUMINIUM INSURANCE THAT KEEPS PRODUCTION MOVING
Why Recycling & Secondary Aluminium Insurance Matters
Aluminium recycling and secondary production is a high-value, high-hazard industrial operation. Fire risk from mixed scrap, lithium battery contamination, furnace and baghouse exposures, environmental liabilities, and major business interruption potential make insurance a critical part of operational resilience.
Insure24 arranges specialist cover for UK aluminium recyclers, scrap yards with processing lines, secondary smelters, remelt plants, foundry feedstock operations, and ingot producers. We structure policies around your process flow, site layout, and contracts so your cover works when you need it.
What Does Recycling & Secondary Aluminium Production Insurance Cover?
Your policy can be built as a combined manufacturing package or arranged as separate covers. The aim is simple: protect your premises, plant, people, product, profits and reputation.
- Property Damage – buildings, fixed plant, electrical installations and site infrastructure.
- Stock & Scrap – raw scrap, processed scrap, briquettes, alloying elements, ingots, sows, and finished product.
- Plant & Machinery – shredders, balers, shears, eddy current separators, furnaces, casthouses and cranes.
- Machinery Breakdown – sudden and unforeseen mechanical/electrical breakdown including control systems.
- Business Interruption – loss of gross profit following insured damage, including increased cost of working.
- Employers’ Liability – UK statutory cover for employee injury/illness.
- Public & Products Liability – third-party injury/damage, plus liabilities arising from supplied product.
- Environmental & Pollution Liability – contamination events, clean-up, third-party claims and legal defence.
Key Risks in Aluminium Recycling & Secondary Smelting
Secondary aluminium operations vary widely — from scrap collection and processing to remelt, alloying and casting. Underwriters will want to understand your exact process, but the risk themes are consistent across most sites.
Fire Risk from Scrap Contamination
Fire is the number one severity exposure for many recyclers. Mixed scrap can hide lithium batteries, aerosol cans, pressurised cylinders, fuels, or reactive materials. A single battery event can ignite stock piles, conveyors, shredder lines, or processing buildings.
- Lithium battery thermal runaway in stock bays and processing lines
- Hot work ignition during maintenance and repairs
- Hidden flammables (fuels, oils, aerosols) in incoming scrap
- Dust accumulation and ignition sources
Insurers typically assess segregation, inbound inspection, battery detection controls, stock rotation, fire water supplies, detection/suppression systems, and emergency response planning.
Furnace, Casthouse & Molten Metal Exposure
Secondary aluminium production introduces high-temperature operations and molten metal hazards. Furnace explosions, refractory failure, molten metal spills, and water contact events can cause catastrophic losses.
- Reverberatory/rotary furnace incidents and burner system failures
- Molten aluminium contact with moisture/water leading to explosions
- Refractory degradation and unplanned shutdowns
- Casthouse risks: launders, degassing units, casting tables and mould systems
Proper maintenance regimes, documented operating procedures, furnace separation, spill containment and competent supervision are all key to underwriting acceptance and pricing.
Baghouse, Fume & Dust Control Risk
Dust and fume extraction systems can be both safety-critical and a fire/explosion propagation route. Baghouse fires, ductwork ignition, and filter failures can spread rapidly through the plant.
- Combustible dust ignition (where applicable) and smoulder events
- Ductwork fires and cross-contamination between areas
- Filter media fires and inadequate isolation
- Emission non-compliance leading to shutdown or enforcement actions
Underwriters may ask about monitoring, spark detection/suppression, isolation valves, housekeeping schedules, and inspection records for ducting and filters.
Environmental Incidents & Pollution Liability
Recycling sites can face pollution exposures from oils, chemicals, firefighting water run-off, metal fines, slag storage, and waste handling. Environmental liability claims can be complex and expensive.
- Fire water run-off contaminating drains, watercourses or adjacent land
- Storage and handling of oils, coolants, fluxes and cleaning chemicals
- Slag/dross handling, storage and disposal liabilities
- Third-party claims and regulatory defence costs
Environmental cover can extend beyond clean-up costs to include legal defence, crisis management, and third-party property damage where available and appropriate.
Business Interruption: Protecting Output, Contracts & Cashflow
For secondary aluminium producers, the biggest cost after a major incident is often not the physical repair — it’s the loss of production. A furnace outage, shredder failure or building fire can halt throughput, breach supply agreements and create costly re-start delays.
Business interruption (BI) cover can protect your gross profit following insured damage, and may also cover increased cost of working — such as outsourcing processing, renting temporary equipment, expediting replacement parts, or paying overtime to recover output.
What BI Cover Can Include
- Loss of gross profit / revenue
- Standing charges and unavoidable overheads
- Increased cost of working (ICOW)
- Additional storage and logistics costs
- Loss of rent / alternative trading arrangements (where relevant)
- Denial of access (subject to wording)
We help you select realistic indemnity periods (often 12–24 months for complex rebuilds) and ensure your sums insured reflect real-world production constraints and lead times.
Machinery Breakdown + BI = The Practical Combination
Many recyclers discover too late that standard BI cover is only triggered by insured property damage. If your biggest threat is a critical machine breakdown — shredder, baler, furnace controls, crane system — you need machinery breakdown and (where available) consequential loss cover to protect profits from non-damage downtime.
- Electrical failure in control panels and drives
- Gearbox, bearing or hydraulic failure
- Furnace burner or refractory-related breakdown events
- Cranes and lifting systems that stop casthouse operations
We’ll structure your programme to avoid gaps between property, engineering and BI sections.
Employers’ Liability & Worker Safety in Recycling Plants
Aluminium recycling sites involve heavy plant, mobile machinery, cutting/shearing, high temperatures, cranes, and manual handling. Employers’ liability (EL) is legally required in most UK cases and is one of the most scrutinised areas after an incident.
Common Injury & Health Exposures
- Forklift and vehicle movements in yards and loading bays
- Crush injuries around balers, shears and conveyors
- Burn injuries from furnace and molten metal areas
- Slips/trips from poor housekeeping and scrap debris
- Fume exposure and respiratory issues (where controls fail)
- Noise-induced hearing loss and vibration exposure
Insurers will often request details of training, risk assessments, PPE programmes, traffic management, lifting inspections, maintenance schedules and incident history.
What Insurers Like to See
- Clear traffic routes, segregation, and speed controls
- Documented SOPs for furnace charging and melt operations
- Competency matrices for plant operators
- Hot works permit system and contractor control
- Routine inspections for lifting gear and pressure systems
- Housekeeping plans to reduce ignition and injury risk
Strong safety controls don’t just help with claims — they typically improve insurer appetite and pricing.
Who This Insurance Is For
We arrange cover for a broad range of aluminium recycling and secondary production businesses across the UK, including standalone recyclers and integrated manufacturing groups.
Recycling & Scrap Operations
- Aluminium scrap yards and processors
- Mixed metal recyclers with aluminium streams
- Shredder operators and separation plants
- Briquetting and swarf processing businesses
- Merchanting, storage and bulk handling sites
Secondary Smelting & Casting
- Secondary aluminium smelters and remelt plants
- Alloying and foundry feedstock producers
- Ingot, sow and billet casting operations
- Toll smelters and contract remelt services
- Sites with casthouse, degassing and filtration systems
How to Get Recycling & Secondary Aluminium Insurance
We keep the process straightforward while capturing the technical details underwriters require. A clear risk presentation typically results in better terms and fewer coverage gaps.
- 1. Tell us about your operation – processes, throughput, sites, and product output.
- 2. Confirm values and dependencies – buildings, plant, stock, and critical equipment.
- 3. Review key risks – fire controls, battery management, furnace procedures and environmental safeguards.
- 4. Receive options – compare levels of cover, limits and deductibles.
- 5. Bind cover – with documentation and ongoing support from Insure24.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What is recycling & secondary aluminium production insurance?
It’s a specialist commercial insurance programme for aluminium recyclers and secondary smelters, designed to cover
property, plant, stock and scrap, machinery breakdown, business interruption, employers’ liability, public/products liability,
and (where required) environmental liabilities arising from recycling and remelt operations.
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Does insurance cover fire risk from lithium batteries in scrap?
Fire can be covered under property insurance, subject to terms, conditions and the site’s risk controls.
Insurers will usually review inbound inspection procedures, segregation, storage methods, detection/suppression measures,
housekeeping, and emergency response planning when pricing fire risk for recycling operations.
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Can I insure scrap, ingots and work-in-progress stock?
Yes. Policies can be arranged to cover raw scrap, processed scrap, WIP, alloying materials, and finished stock such as ingots,
sows or billets. Correct stock valuation (including seasonal peaks) is essential to avoid underinsurance.
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Does this include machinery breakdown for shredders, balers and furnaces?
Machinery breakdown cover can include sudden and unforeseen failure of critical equipment such as shredders, shears, balers,
conveyors, cranes, furnace systems and electrical/control panels. Scope depends on your plant list and underwriting acceptance.
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What is business interruption insurance for a secondary aluminium producer?
Business interruption insurance can protect your loss of gross profit after insured damage such as a fire or major equipment loss.
It may also cover increased cost of working, helping you fund temporary arrangements to maintain throughput and meet contracts.
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Do recyclers need environmental liability cover?
Often, yes. Sites can face pollution exposures from oils, chemicals, metal fines, slag/dross handling, and fire-water run-off.
Environmental liability cover can help with clean-up costs, third-party claims and legal defence, depending on the wording selected.
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How do insurers assess recycling and smelting risks?
Insurers typically assess site layout, fire separation, stock management, battery controls, detection/suppression systems, furnace
procedures, maintenance records, housekeeping, security, environmental controls, and claims history. A clear risk presentation helps
secure better terms.
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How quickly can Insure24 arrange cover?
Timescales depend on complexity and the information available. For straightforward recycling risks, indications can be quick. For
secondary smelters and larger sites, underwriters may require additional detail, plant schedules and risk information before quoting.
Call us on 0330 127 2333 to discuss the fastest route to market.