Hydro CIRCAL: Gaining recognition by shaping the market for greener aluminium

October 14, 2025

Leading international voices in design and architecture are recognizing Hydro CIRCAL as a benchmark for circular materials.

When Hydro launched its low-carbon and recycled aluminium brands in 2019, including Hydro CIRCAL, the purpose was to set a new standard in the industry that makes it easier for customers to promote products with lower carbon footprints. Customers across industries, ranging from automotive to building and construction, were starting to raise the bar on sustainability, driven by regulations, rating programs, and their own climate ambitions.

Hydro CIRCAL was developed to meet this demand with a premium, high-quality recycled aluminium alloy made with a high share of post-consumer scrap. It represented a breakthrough in low-carbon aluminium, combining sustainability with the same high performance and design flexibility expected from virgin materials.

The ambition was not just to follow the market, but to shape and lead it by proving recycled aluminium could help industries meet their climate goals without compromising on quality, aesthetics, or technical requirements.

Pushing the market toward more circularity

Hydro CIRCAL is a recycled, low-carbon aluminium offering made with a minimum of 75 percent post-consumer scrap content, verified by third party auditor DNV. From this came the product line of Hydro CIRCAL 100R, Hydro’s 100 percent post-consumer aluminium scrap that contains a carbon footprint 33 times lower than the global average. 

Shaping the market for greener aluminium was not only about introducing a product, it was about shifting mindsets. Historically, aluminium has been seen as a commodity material. 

Hydro's strategy has been to work with architects, designers, engineers and sustainability leaders who have expert knowledge and a big influence when it comes to material selection across many industries. Hydro needed to make visible the difference between aluminium produced with high-carbon processes, and aluminium produced with circularity and climate in mind.

A product recognized around the world

Over the last two years, Hydro CIRCAL has received some of the most prestigious awards in architecture, design and sustainable innovation:

• 2024: Winner of 2024 Best of Products Awards in the category "Building Materials & Facades: Metals" by The Architect Newspaper.
• 2024: Hydro’s work with designers was shortlisted for Best Exhibition at the Dezeen Awards.
• 2024: Hydro won Producer of the Year in BO BEDRE design award, recognized for the work with sustainable material innovation and good design.
• 2025: Hydro won the Green GOOD DESIGN Award for Turning scrap into new design icons.
• 2025: Winner of The Faces of Our City award in the category "Product of the Year" by The Architect Newspaper. 
• 2025: Hydro’s launch of Hydro CIRCAL 100R was awarded Sustainable Innovation of the Year by ELLE Decoration International Design Awards.
• 2025: Hydro CIRCAL was part of a project awarded Innovative Product of the Year at the IDEAT Design Awards. 
• In 2025, Hydro CIRCAL 100R was shortlisted for Material Innovation of the year at the Dezeen Awards, in addition to a shortlisting for two of their products in collaboration with designers Keiji Takeuchi and Stefan Diez.
• 2025: Honoree and finalist for Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards, recognizing products and materials that lead to greener, better design.
• 2025: Honorable mention at 2025 FRAME awards with a Gold score for Hydro CIRCAL 100R in the Materials category.

These awards are proof points that leading with vision, shaping demand and investing in more sustainable materials matters. They honor the courage it takes to invest in a future that is becoming a reality.

“The development of new and more sustainable aluminium requires tremendous effort from our engineers and operations. It is therefore very rewarding to see that our customers embrace the new material, and also that it is recognized in the news and in awards. This motivates us to take further steps to remove carbon emissions and impact on nature,” says Asle Forsbak, Marketing Director in Hydro Extrusions.

While these awards and recognitions mark important milestones on this journey, the real reward is witnessing a growing movement of customers, designers, and innovators choosing and applauding circularity.