Aluminum is by far the most produced nonferrous metal in the world, due to its variable properties and diverse applications. Because of its affinity to oxygen and ignoble chemical character, the production and processing of the metal results in both melting losses and the formation of a residue (dross), which contains high amounts of aluminum. On the one hand, the formation of dross depends on the quality of scrap used, and on the other hand, its reliance on several process parameters, including the melting furnace and its implemented technology. This thesis presents a literature study which describes the procedural routes as well as common furnace technologies used in the aluminum industry. In addition different types of heating systems and measures for energy efficiency are described. Moreover, it includes the determination of the quantity of dross formed with the use of different types of scrap metal, processed in a miniaturized single-chamber melting furnace, which imitates the current production method at the company Alu-met. A laboratory melting furnace was equipped with a miniaturized hearth, which was designed and built to re-melt aluminum scrap. The melting experiments show, that the experimental dross generated correlates with the industrial amount of the residue which is produced. Furthermore, a thermal scrap pre-treatment (pyrolysis) investigation of a highly contaminated scrap sample shows a significantly higher metal yield outcome when melted. In addition, reducing the temperature of the chamber to below 1.000 °C, resulted in a lower amount of dross. The melting tests also confirm that highly contaminated scraps produce a significantly higher amount of the aluminum containing residue in comparison to scraps low in pollutants. The investigation also resulted in confirmation that a high surface-to-volume ratio leads to increased oxidation of valuable aluminum.