Sustainability in the Aluminum Industry
in North America
Presentation for NAM
Marshall Jinlong Wang
July 2013
Contents
• Aluminum Association and Aluminum
Products
• Approach to Sustainability
• Actions to Sustainability
• Future Opportunities
The Aluminum Association
 98 Member Companies: 51 aluminum producers and
semi-fabricators and 47 technology and service
providers
 Representing the majority of aluminum product’s
value chain including resource extraction, material
production and product fabrication
 Membership highly diversified with multinational
companies, regional players and local small businesses
 Goal is to promote the production and use of
aluminum as the sustainable material of choice
Characteristics of Aluminum and Products
 Strong and light weight
 Versatile - Can be made into any shapes, sizes, and
gauges to serve any designated functions
 Rust & corrosion resistance
 Great thermal and electrical conductor
 Infinitely recyclable
 Serving hundreds of millions of people in their daily
life from food and accommodation to mobility and
entertainment
Life Cycle of Aluminum
Approach to Sustainability
Life-Cycle-Thinking
Triple-Bottom-Line
Sustainability – Step I
Research and Support
 Analyzing the industry – quantitative approach
 Identify trends, challenges and opportunities
 Lay foundations for benchmarking and future goal
setting
 Analysis included product analysis and industry
analysis
 Extensive data survey and information compiling:



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life cycle assessment survey,
industry sustainability management survey,
product use phase survey,
recycling survey, etc. – a very slow and painful process
Sustainability – Step II
Benchmark and Continuous Improvement
 Set long-term goals and sustainability pathways –
voluntary programs
 Reduce GHG Emissions and other environmental footprints
 Document and Improve Use Phase Benefits
 Increase Material Recovery
 Promote and monitor progress
 Keep the material for future generations
Step I Findings
 Tremendous progress has been achieved during the past two decades in
increasing efficiency and reducing environmental footprints during the
production stage.
 from 1990 to 2010, primary energy demand associated with primary aluminum
production has been reduced 26%. Primary energy demand for aluminum
recycling has been reduced 52%
 Aluminum applications help society save energy and reduce
environmental footprints.
 Our research found that the energy savings of our products help achieved during
the use phase offset the energy demand during the production phase, making
aluminum an energy neutral industry
 Aluminum recycling not only help save critical natural resources but
also significantly save energy and reduce environmental footprints.
 Recycling aluminum can save up to 95% of energy demanded for producing
aluminum from bauxite ore.
 End-of-life aluminum recycling in North America helps save at least 406
trillion Btu of energy each year
Step I Findings – Continued
 Industry voluntary sustainability programs have had significant
contributions to the society in reducing the environmental
footprint.
 from 1990, the North American aluminum industry has voluntarily
reduced its PFC (a greenhouse gas) emission intensity of primary
aluminum production by 85%.
 This is the equivalent of a total of 200 million tons of CO2e elimination
over two decades
 Leader in using renewable energy among material industries:
the share of renewable energy use for aluminum products is the
highest among most other common materials –
 more than 30% in terms of accumulative primary energy demand
 75% during the aluminum smelting process
Future Opportunities
 Recycling
– limited understanding and consistent metal loss during the
end-of-life of some products – estimated at least one million
tons of metal loss each year
 Product use phase
– very limited understanding in terms of what’s exactly
happening during the use time due to the extremely diversified
applications as well as the very long life time in use
 How can we do better
– Constant efficiency improvement versus law of physics
– Limited influence for small businesses on their supply chain
– Technological breakthrough process takes time
Appendix: Footprints of the Industry
Appendix: Current Voluntary Programs
For more information, please visit:
www.aluminum.org/SustainabilityReport
Questions?
Thank You!