RTE and Nexans have launched France’s first closed-loop aluminum cable recycling system, aiming to recycle 600 tonnes annually, cut emissions, and boost circularity in electricity transmission networks.
Jul 11, 2025
RTE, the French electricity transmission system operator is combining its expertise with Nexans, a leader in the design and manufacturing of cable systems and services as part of a process that began in 2024. The two companies are announcing the launch of a complete industrial aluminum recycling solution for the manufacturing of power cables. For the first time in France, cables from the electricity transmission network will be recycled for reuse on RTE’s high and extra-high voltage lines.
Based entirely in Europe, this activity will recycle 600 metric tonnes of aluminum per year, from 1,000 metric tonnes of cables (equivalent to half of the power cables to be dismantled by RTE in 2025). It will also cut CO2e emissions by at least 400 metric tons per year2 owing to the lower carbon impact of recycled aluminum.
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Implementing a recycling loop for network equipment in France and Europe is a strategic component of the network development plan (SDDR 2025) presented by RTE on February 13. The challenge is twofold: to use French and European sources for the production and supply of raw materials, and to reduce the carbon footprint of the supplies required for network maintenance and development. Nexans is also committed to the circular economy and the recycling of metal in order to support the growing demands of the electrical industry in a more virtuous way.
Aluminum is one of the main materials with the technical characteristics to be recycled while continuing to meet the stringent technical standards required for use in the electricity transmission network. Over the next fifteen years, aluminum waste from the renewal of high-voltage cables will make up around one-quarter of the overall aluminum requirements of the entire RTE network. Recycled aluminum has a carbon impact between 10 and 20 times lower than that of primary aluminum3, and therefore has a major role to play in reducing the associated greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2023, RTE set up an initial trial involving network cables in the Maine-et-Loire and Corrèze departments. The success of this trial led RTE and Nexans to create the first closed-loop recycling network (i.e. where the material is re-used for the same purpose). Specifically, Nexans is responsible for the “end-to-end” recycling of overhead cables. These cables are collected from all over France and shredded at the Recycâbles site in Noyelles-Godault in northern France before being reintegrated into the aluminum wire production chain in France. The resulting “wire rod” will then be used by Nexans to manufacture recycled cables at its plant in Elouges, Belgium.
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The contract signed by Nexans and RTE makes provision for recycling around 600 metric tons of aluminum per year. Although the power cables are intended primarily for the French grid, they will also be used by other Nexans customers, who will benefit from reduced CO2 emissions.
Further, the process will be structured to improve the traceability of used power cables, so that they can be better recycled at the end of their service life. From this year, the cables installed by RTE will contain 10% of recycled aluminum. As part of its SDDR 2025, RTE is aiming to gradually increase the proportion of recycled aluminum in its cables over the next few years, to reach 30% by 2040.
