The Aluminum Association
Encyclopedia
The Aluminum Association is a trade association
for the aluminum production, fabrication
and recycling industries, and their suppliers. The Association is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization
based in Arlington, Virginia
, United States. (The Association was based in Washington
, D.C. until .)
Pursuant to seven ANSI
H35 standards, The Aluminum Association registers and publishes specifications describing the composition, mechanical properties and nomenclature
of aluminum alloys in the United States. These alloys are identified by the abbreviation "AA", for example AA 6061-T6.
The Aluminum Association provides value to its membership through its leadership and services in aggressively promoting the growth of the aluminum industry globally by:
(NIRA), a New Deal
measure requesting each industry to establish codes and guidelines of fair competition.
Representatives of 13 aluminum companies met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
to set up these codes and formed the Association of Manufacturers in the Aluminum Industry. Members of the Association included the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa
) (Arthur Vining Davis), Reynolds Metals Company (Walter Hunt), and United Smelting & Aluminum (Milton Rosenthal).
After the Act was repealed in May 1934, these industry leaders convened a special meeting in June, ultimately deciding to continue the Association of Manufacturers in the Aluminum Industry on a reorganized basis.
The Association was reorganized and renamed "The Aluminum Association," and its first official meeting was held in October 1935 in New York
. The Association defined its purpose as promoting the general welfare of the aluminum industry and its members.
Through the end of the 1930s, the Association would focus on expanding the uses of aluminum. Its first formal program in market expansion was a technical report called, “Corrosion Resistance of Aluminum Cylinder Head
s,” which was distributed to engineers, automobile dealers, and repair shops.
With the onset of World War II
, and aluminum's designation as a strategic material, the Association would serve as a central conduit for information relating to aluminum’s use in the war effort—disseminating government material, representing the industry on government boards, and providing statistical information to the industry and the general public.
During the course of the war, the aluminum industry would design and build 52 new aluminum production and fabrication plants for the U.S. government and add on to 37 existing plants. After the war, the government-owned aluminum plants were offered to bidders under the Surplus Property Act
of 1944.
and expand the operations of Reynolds Aluminum. Both companies joined Alcoa as major primary aluminum producers.
After the war, the Association, now with three principal divisions—sheet, extrusion, and foundry—represented 36 companies, including all three primary producers and companies whose output represented 85 percent of the total amount of the nation's aluminum fabricated products.
By the late 1940s, the Aluminum Association would recommence fulfilling its original purpose to promote the general welfare of the industry. In doing so, it instituted a number of projects, including:
The 1950s were a period of great expansion for the aluminum industry in the building, transportation, household products, electrical, and packaging markets. The public relations
program of the time promoted aluminum as “The Modern Metal for Modern Uses.”
As the demand for technical data on aluminum grew, the Technical Committee was created. In the mid-50s this committee produced the precursor to the Aluminum Standards and Data.
A promotional symbol—the "Mark of Aluminum"—was developed by the Public Relations Committee in the early 1960s. The marks, which proclaimed aluminum as variously "lightweight," "durable," "versatile," and "rust-free," would appear on thousands of consumer products to proclaim the special attributes of aluminum.
. The industry would become heavily involved in establishing the nation's aluminum can recycling infrastructure. The Association also established new committees in energy and recycling.
In 1977, the Association would move its headquarters from New York to Washington, D.C. The Government Relations Committee formed that same year.
By the end of the decade, the Association would announce that the aluminum industry had met and surpassed its energy conservation goal almost two years ahead of schedule. The industry had reduced the amount of energy required to make a pound of aluminum by 10.77 percent compared with the base year of 1972.
As the 20th century came to a close, the Association and its members would take an increasingly active and leading role in pursuing energy efficiency
and emission reductions in our primary operations. The Voluntary Aluminum Industrial Partnership,(VAIP) launched in 1995 between the Environmental Protection Agency and the aluminum industry, has since succeeded in achieving dramatic reductions in perfluorocarbon (PFCs) gas emissions. The VAIP represented 18 of the 19 American aluminum smelters and represented 98% of total aluminum smelting in the U.S. The program reduced PFC emission by 77% over 14 years. In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded its Climate Change Award to the Aluminum Association for this program.
The Aluminum Association today carries out its role in promoting aluminum via a diverse set of activities: developing technical standards and data, collecting and publishing industry statistics, promoting plant safety and health, and monitoring and promoting technological developments that advance the metal's use across a range of applications.
United States' aluminum industry standards, which are voluntary, have been developed and continue to evolve to meet the need for a communication system to facilitate aluminum commerce.
The structure for this communication system is defined by a group of six H35.x American National Standards, which include the authorization for The Aluminum Association to administer the registration of chemical composition limits and mechanical properties of cast and wrought aluminum alloys, with the accompanying assignment of alloy and temper designations.
The ANS H35 standards are developed under approval by the Accredited Standards Committee H35 - Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys, which is an ANSI accredited standards committee. Aluminum Association (AA) standards are promulgated by the Technical Committee on Product Standards.
In addition to registering alloy compositions and designations, the TCPS also registers alloy-temper product standards. Most industry product standards for aluminum mill products are published in Aluminum Standards and Data, available in both customary
and metric
editions. Similarly, the Association publishes the Standards for Aluminum Sand and Permanent Mold Castings, which provides engineering and metallurgical
standards for casting alloys in metric and U.S. units of measurements.
Aluminum Association designations and product standards information are used throughout all facets of aluminum commerce, as well as in other organizations’ codes and standards. Aluminum alloy and temper designations, chemical composition limits and registered properties in North America all originate from the above system of ANSI and AA standards. These standards are also the basis for several international agreements for the worldwide producer registration of wrought alloys, unalloyed aluminum, and aluminum hardeners (aluminum alloy materials and grain refiners).
The U.S. aluminum industry strives to maximize energy efficiency and minimize emissions from its upstream and downstream plant operations.
Product Life
Much of aluminum’s contribution to reducing emissions, fuel use, and energy consumption comes during a product’s lifespan, particularly in aluminum’s largest end market: automotive and transportation. Aluminum’s light weight, combined with its durability, can result in dramatic energy and emissions savings.
Studies recently undertaken by the International Aluminium Institute show just how dramatic those savings can be. Among their findings:
So great is the potential for emissions savings from aluminum’s use in the automotive and transportation industries that Alcoa, among others, has forecast that the aluminum industry is well on pace to become “greenhouse gas neutral” in the next decade. That is, the global warming impacts of aluminum production will be fully offset by the amount of carbon-dioxide saved by its use in the transportation industry.
Aluminum Association Sustainability Initiative
The Aluminum Association's Sustainability Initiative, launched in April 2008, promotes increased recycling, energy-efficient product applications, and increased operating efficiency.
Among the projects that will form the basis of the initiative are:
Sustainable Technologies
Through participation in such partnerships as the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Industrial Technologies Program, the U.S. aluminum industry works to increase energy efficiency and lower emissions associated with the aluminum production process.
Promising new technologies include:
International Partnerships
The aluminum industry continues to move forward on both the national and international fronts to advance sustainability efforts.
In July 2005, the U.S. entered into an agreement known as the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate—or “AP6”—with Australia, India, China, Japan, and South Korea (Canada has since also joined). Together these countries—and their energy-intensive industries, such as aluminum—are working to develop and deploy more efficient technologies and to meet national pollution-reduction, energy-security, and climate-change concerns.
The Aluminum Task Force, co-chaired by the U.S., is developing realistic work plans and identifying aluminum-specific projects that will be carried out to help achieve the partnership’s goals. Among those goals are to realize a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the seven countries by 2050 compared with current projections if no action were taken.
Can Recycling
Environmental Benefits
Economic Benefits
Community Benefits
Building/Construction Recycling
Automotive Recycling
Aluminum Extruders Council
Aluminium Federation Limited
Aluminium Federation of South Africa
Aluminium-Verband Schweiz
Aluminiumindustriens Miljøsekretariat
Aluminum Foil Container Manufacturers Association
Associacao Brasileira Do Aluminio (ABAL)
Australian Aluminium Council Limited
Can Manufacturers Institute
Curbside Value Partnership
Economic Strategy Institute
European Aluminium Association
European Aluminum Foil Association
Federation Des Chambres Syndicales Des Minerais Mineraux Industriels
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc.
Instituto Mexicano del Aluminio, A.C.
International Aluminium Institute
International Hard Anodizing Association
Japan Aluminium Association
Metal Construction Association
Metals Service Center Institute
Non-Ferrous Founders' Society
North American Die Casting Association
South East Center for Aluminum Technology (SECAT)
Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
L'Association de l'Aluminium du Canada
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
for the aluminum production, fabrication
Fabrication (metal)
Fabrication as an industrial term refers to building metal structures by cutting, bending, and assembling. The cutting part of fabrication is via sawing, shearing, or chiseling ; torching with handheld torches ; and via CNC cutters...
and recycling industries, and their suppliers. The Association is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
based in Arlington, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States. (The Association was based in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, D.C. until .)
Pursuant to seven ANSI
Ansi
Ansi is a village in Kaarma Parish, Saare County, on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia....
H35 standards, The Aluminum Association registers and publishes specifications describing the composition, mechanical properties and nomenclature
Nomenclature
Nomenclature is a term that applies to either a list of names or terms, or to the system of principles, procedures and terms related to naming - which is the assigning of a word or phrase to a particular object or property...
of aluminum alloys in the United States. These alloys are identified by the abbreviation "AA", for example AA 6061-T6.
Mission, vision, and goals
The Aluminum Association works globally to promote aluminum as the most sustainable and recyclable automotive, packaging, and construction material in today’s market. The Association provides leadership to the industry through its programs and services and assists in achieving the industry's environmental, societal, and economic objectives. Member companies operate more than 200 plants in the United States, with many conducting business worldwide.The Aluminum Association provides value to its membership through its leadership and services in aggressively promoting the growth of the aluminum industry globally by:
- Continuously strengthening aluminum's position versus competitive materials.
- Developing, maintaining and promoting global standards that achieve customer requirements for aluminum product applications.
- Representing the interests of its membership to the U.S. and international governments.
- Providing research and education to actively address community and employee environmental, health and safety issues.
- Gathering and presenting data, statistics, and other information about the aluminum industry in an accurate and timely manner.
- Leveraging industry strength by establishing stronger domestic and global alliances.
History
In 1933, Congress passed the National Industrial Recovery ActNational Industrial Recovery Act
The National Industrial Recovery Act , officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 (Ch. 90, 48 Stat. 195, formerly...
(NIRA), a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
measure requesting each industry to establish codes and guidelines of fair competition.
Representatives of 13 aluminum companies met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
to set up these codes and formed the Association of Manufacturers in the Aluminum Industry. Members of the Association included the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
) (Arthur Vining Davis), Reynolds Metals Company (Walter Hunt), and United Smelting & Aluminum (Milton Rosenthal).
After the Act was repealed in May 1934, these industry leaders convened a special meeting in June, ultimately deciding to continue the Association of Manufacturers in the Aluminum Industry on a reorganized basis.
The Association was reorganized and renamed "The Aluminum Association," and its first official meeting was held in October 1935 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The Association defined its purpose as promoting the general welfare of the aluminum industry and its members.
Through the end of the 1930s, the Association would focus on expanding the uses of aluminum. Its first formal program in market expansion was a technical report called, “Corrosion Resistance of Aluminum Cylinder Head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
s,” which was distributed to engineers, automobile dealers, and repair shops.
With the onset of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and aluminum's designation as a strategic material, the Association would serve as a central conduit for information relating to aluminum’s use in the war effort—disseminating government material, representing the industry on government boards, and providing statistical information to the industry and the general public.
During the course of the war, the aluminum industry would design and build 52 new aluminum production and fabrication plants for the U.S. government and add on to 37 existing plants. After the war, the government-owned aluminum plants were offered to bidders under the Surplus Property Act
Surplus Property Act
The Surplus Property Act of 1944 is an act of the United States Congress that was enacted to provide for the disposal of surplus government property to "a State, political subdivision of a State, or tax-supported organization"...
of 1944.
Post-war Growth
The sale of these plants would help create Kaiser AluminumKaiser Aluminum
Kaiser Aluminum is an American aluminum producer. The company was founded in 1946 by American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. Kaiser entered the aluminum business by leasing, then purchasing three government-owned aluminum facilities in Washington state. These were the primary reduction plants at...
and expand the operations of Reynolds Aluminum. Both companies joined Alcoa as major primary aluminum producers.
After the war, the Association, now with three principal divisions—sheet, extrusion, and foundry—represented 36 companies, including all three primary producers and companies whose output represented 85 percent of the total amount of the nation's aluminum fabricated products.
By the late 1940s, the Aluminum Association would recommence fulfilling its original purpose to promote the general welfare of the industry. In doing so, it instituted a number of projects, including:
- Redirecting the efforts of the Publicity Committee, formed during the war, toward publicizing aluminum on behalf of the industry
- Initiating a program of standardization of aluminum specifications
- Creating the Foil Division
- Forming the Building Industry Committee to effect the change of the material-specified codes to performance codes—and eventually to standardize the codes across the country
- Production (in 1959) of the Aluminum Construction Manual, precursor to the current Aluminum Design Manual.
The 1950s were a period of great expansion for the aluminum industry in the building, transportation, household products, electrical, and packaging markets. The public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
program of the time promoted aluminum as “The Modern Metal for Modern Uses.”
As the demand for technical data on aluminum grew, the Technical Committee was created. In the mid-50s this committee produced the precursor to the Aluminum Standards and Data.
A promotional symbol—the "Mark of Aluminum"—was developed by the Public Relations Committee in the early 1960s. The marks, which proclaimed aluminum as variously "lightweight," "durable," "versatile," and "rust-free," would appear on thousands of consumer products to proclaim the special attributes of aluminum.
Environmental and Energy Initiatives
The early 1970s saw the rise of the environmental movementEnvironmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
. The industry would become heavily involved in establishing the nation's aluminum can recycling infrastructure. The Association also established new committees in energy and recycling.
In 1977, the Association would move its headquarters from New York to Washington, D.C. The Government Relations Committee formed that same year.
By the end of the decade, the Association would announce that the aluminum industry had met and surpassed its energy conservation goal almost two years ahead of schedule. The industry had reduced the amount of energy required to make a pound of aluminum by 10.77 percent compared with the base year of 1972.
As the 20th century came to a close, the Association and its members would take an increasingly active and leading role in pursuing energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
and emission reductions in our primary operations. The Voluntary Aluminum Industrial Partnership,(VAIP) launched in 1995 between the Environmental Protection Agency and the aluminum industry, has since succeeded in achieving dramatic reductions in perfluorocarbon (PFCs) gas emissions. The VAIP represented 18 of the 19 American aluminum smelters and represented 98% of total aluminum smelting in the U.S. The program reduced PFC emission by 77% over 14 years. In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded its Climate Change Award to the Aluminum Association for this program.
The Aluminum Association today carries out its role in promoting aluminum via a diverse set of activities: developing technical standards and data, collecting and publishing industry statistics, promoting plant safety and health, and monitoring and promoting technological developments that advance the metal's use across a range of applications.
Standards
United States' aluminum industry standards, which are voluntary, have been developed and continue to evolve to meet the need for a communication system to facilitate aluminum commerce.
The structure for this communication system is defined by a group of six H35.x American National Standards, which include the authorization for The Aluminum Association to administer the registration of chemical composition limits and mechanical properties of cast and wrought aluminum alloys, with the accompanying assignment of alloy and temper designations.
The ANS H35 standards are developed under approval by the Accredited Standards Committee H35 - Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys, which is an ANSI accredited standards committee. Aluminum Association (AA) standards are promulgated by the Technical Committee on Product Standards.
In addition to registering alloy compositions and designations, the TCPS also registers alloy-temper product standards. Most industry product standards for aluminum mill products are published in Aluminum Standards and Data, available in both customary
United States customary units
United States customary units are a system of measurements commonly used in the United States. Many U.S. units are virtually identical to their imperial counterparts, but the U.S. customary system developed from English units used in the British Empire before the system of imperial units was...
and metric
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
editions. Similarly, the Association publishes the Standards for Aluminum Sand and Permanent Mold Castings, which provides engineering and metallurgical
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
standards for casting alloys in metric and U.S. units of measurements.
Aluminum Association designations and product standards information are used throughout all facets of aluminum commerce, as well as in other organizations’ codes and standards. Aluminum alloy and temper designations, chemical composition limits and registered properties in North America all originate from the above system of ANSI and AA standards. These standards are also the basis for several international agreements for the worldwide producer registration of wrought alloys, unalloyed aluminum, and aluminum hardeners (aluminum alloy materials and grain refiners).
Public Policy
- Climate Change
- The aluminum industry recognizes that climate change presents a challenge that requires cooperative action on a global basis, and promotes international participation.
- Climate policies should recognize the benefits of recycling toward GHG emissions reduction. After the initial energy investment in primary aluminum production, the recycling of aluminum saves 95 percent of energy and greenhouse gas emissions. The industry’s complementary primary and reclamation system thereby reduces the overall energy consumption in total U.S. aluminum production by approximately 46 percent, and reduces GHGs by approximately 38 percent. The industry sees opportunity for further reduction and supports policy that provides incentives for recycling.
- The industry supports efficient and economically sound emissions trading programs and registries that recognize early emissions reductions. It supports an economy-wide, fair-market-driven approach that may include a cap and trade program that limits GHG emissions. The approach should result in market incentives that stimulate investment and innovation in technologies necessary to grow while achieving environmental reduction targets.
- To reduce potential negative impacts on the U.S. manufacturing sector, which by 2005 had already reduced total GHG emissions below 1990 levels, provision should be made in any GHG program to reduce the expected negative impacts of energy cost increases such as through corporate tax credits.
- The industry participates in and recommends public/private partnerships to spur pre-competitive research to reduce greenhouse gas process emissions and to promote energy saving aluminum product applications.
- The industry supports a responsible approach to growth in demand for its products and the consequent growth in activity and related emissions, noting that solutions to the climate change issue involve both reducing emissions at the source, and also over the full life cycle of the material or products.
- Energy Policy
- Energy represents about one-third of the total production cost of primary aluminum. Electricity is an essential ingredient in primary aluminum production. These factors together make energy efficiency and energy management prime objectives for the industry. While the industry is a large consumer of both natural gas and electricity, the annual expenditure for electricity by the aluminum industry is more than $2 billion.
- Since the 1970s, manufacturing energy consumption has grown at twice the rate of domestic energy production. This gap between energy use and production will continue to adversely affect manufacturing if the country does not resolve national energy policy with a comprehensive U.S. energy strategy that enhances supply, improves infrastructure, and increases efficiency, without compromising environmental safeguards or imposing efficiency mandates.
- The Aluminum Association supports the principles of electricity consumer choice and open access transmission, applied uniformly in the U.S. through a national system. However the industry does not support proposals for total federal pre-emption in all areas related to deregulation and restructuring. The Aluminum Association supports the establishment of a system that recognizes some inherent regional advantages in the cost of electricity. Consumer-choice legislation should not be tied to excessive taxing of electricity consumers to fund public benefits or a national mandatory Standard Market Design.
- With artificial-market disadvantages, it may be impossible to operate or restore primary smelting capacity in the Northwest U.S., and other regional aluminum plants will be subject to similar concerns. The recommended approach is to provide short-term policies to help the industry survive the transition to a rational market situation, and provide long-term policies to restore supply-demand balance in electricity markets.
- Certainty of an affordable energy supply is essential to capital investment in the manufacturing sectors that provide high-paying jobs. Putting the U.S. on the path to a reliable and affordable supply of domestic energy is essential to this country's short-term economic rebound and future long-term growth prospects. All supply options should be considered to contribute to a diverse and robust supply of energy
- Trade Position
- The members of the Aluminum Association are fully committed to a fair and open world market for aluminum.
- The Aluminum Association strongly supports the initiation of global trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
- The Association supports a comprehensive approach to the phased-in reduction and elimination of tariffs over a multi-year period, not to exceed 10 years.
- The free flow of aluminum products on a global scale is vital to the future success of the U.S. aluminum industry.
- Partnership With Department of Energy (DOE)
- The Aluminum Association and the United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
partner to develop the aluminum technologies needed to achieve the industry's long-term economic, energy and environmental goals. - Aluminum is one of the United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
's nine designated industries of the future.
- The Aluminum Association and the United States Department of Energy
Sustainability
Lifecycle ConsiderationsThe U.S. aluminum industry strives to maximize energy efficiency and minimize emissions from its upstream and downstream plant operations.
- According to the International Aluminium Institute, the average energy consumption per ton of aluminum production has fallen worldwide by 70 percent over the past century. A century ago, primary smelters took roughly 28,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) to produce a metric ton of aluminum from alumina. Today’s state-of-the-art smelters use 13,000 kWh to produce the same amount of aluminum.
- Since 1995, U.S. primary aluminum producers have reduced perfluorocarbon emissions over 70 percent under the Voluntary Aluminum Industry Partnership. Partners have achieve reductions by reducing the frequency and duration of anode effects via a mix of management and technological changes, employing the best options on a smelter-by-smelter basis. U.S. aluminum producers have exceeded the DOE’s Climate Vision emission-reduction targets, reducing direct smelting emissions over 25 percent.
Product Life
Much of aluminum’s contribution to reducing emissions, fuel use, and energy consumption comes during a product’s lifespan, particularly in aluminum’s largest end market: automotive and transportation. Aluminum’s light weight, combined with its durability, can result in dramatic energy and emissions savings.
Studies recently undertaken by the International Aluminium Institute show just how dramatic those savings can be. Among their findings:
- A doubling of the aluminum tonnage in cars worldwide between 2000 and 2010 will curb greenhouse gas emissions by 180 metric tons annually.
- The use of one pound of aluminum in place of 1.5 lbs. of steel in a typical bus or truck application reduces greenhouse gas emissions by almost 90 lbs over the lifetime of the bus or truck.
- Use of one pound of aluminum in place of 1.6 lbs. of steel in a typical railway car reduces greenhouse gas emissions by almost 450 lbs. over the railcar’s lifetime.
- Global use of aluminum in the automotive sector increased from 5.5 billion lbs. in 1991 (source: IAI) to 12 billion pounds in 2006 (source: Ducker Worldwide).
- Assuming that 12 billion lbs. of aluminum is used to replace denser materials, the potential savings in greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetimes of those vehicles would be approximately 240 billion lbs.
So great is the potential for emissions savings from aluminum’s use in the automotive and transportation industries that Alcoa, among others, has forecast that the aluminum industry is well on pace to become “greenhouse gas neutral” in the next decade. That is, the global warming impacts of aluminum production will be fully offset by the amount of carbon-dioxide saved by its use in the transportation industry.
Aluminum Association Sustainability Initiative
The Aluminum Association's Sustainability Initiative, launched in April 2008, promotes increased recycling, energy-efficient product applications, and increased operating efficiency.
Among the projects that will form the basis of the initiative are:
- Expanding the Curbside Value PartnershipCurbside Value PartnershipCurbside Value Partnership is an independent, 5013 originally established by The Aluminum Association as a partnership with other material industries to prompt curbside recycling....
which the aluminum industry is partnered with the paper, glass, plastic, and steel industries to increase curbside recycling participation and collections. As of January 2011, Curbside Value Partnership became an independent 501(c)3 with a five member Board of DirectorsBoard of directorsA board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
and continues to grow.
- World Aluminum Automotive Sustainability—In partnership with the IAI and the European Aluminium Association, the Aluminum Association will demonstrate that aluminum automotive applications can lead to potential savings of 140 million tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions and energy savings equal to 55 billion liters of crude oil over the lifecycle of such vehicles.
Sustainable Technologies
Through participation in such partnerships as the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Industrial Technologies Program, the U.S. aluminum industry works to increase energy efficiency and lower emissions associated with the aluminum production process.
Promising new technologies include:
- Researchers at the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory and NorandaFalconbridge are developing a way to produce aluminum at significantly reduced temperatures. Specifically, researchers are modifying the cell electrolyte to operate at lower temperatures—which could eventually permit the use of an inert anode.
- The ITP—working with Aleris Inc., among others—has supported the development of a radically new concept for melting aluminum—isothermal melting—that can dramatically improve energy efficiency in melting and other molten metal processes.
- Alcoa has launched a carbon capture technology at its Kwinana alumina refinery in Western Australia. The system mixes bauxite residue with carbon-dioxide to lock up large volumes of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
International Partnerships
The aluminum industry continues to move forward on both the national and international fronts to advance sustainability efforts.
In July 2005, the U.S. entered into an agreement known as the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate—or “AP6”—with Australia, India, China, Japan, and South Korea (Canada has since also joined). Together these countries—and their energy-intensive industries, such as aluminum—are working to develop and deploy more efficient technologies and to meet national pollution-reduction, energy-security, and climate-change concerns.
The Aluminum Task Force, co-chaired by the U.S., is developing realistic work plans and identifying aluminum-specific projects that will be carried out to help achieve the partnership’s goals. Among those goals are to realize a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the seven countries by 2050 compared with current projections if no action were taken.
Recycling
Recycling aluminum saves 95 percent of the energy and 95 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing aluminum from ore.Can Recycling
- Aluminum can recycling is beneficial for individuals, communities, organizations, companies and industries.
- An early and highly successful sustainability initiative by the aluminum industry was its creation of the aluminum can recycling infrastructure. In response to environmental concerns and rising energy prices in the early 1970s, the industry created a network of drop-off and buy-back centers to prevent used beverage cans from being landfilled—and instead rerouted to facilities that would melt the aluminum, reconstitute it into ingots and send it on to mills that would roll it back into can sheet.
- Since that time, the aluminum can recycling rate has increased from 15 percent to over 50 percent; gross tonnage of aluminum cans collected has increased 35-fold, and the number of cans collected has increased by a factor of over 50.
- Today, the aluminum can is the most recycled beverage container in the United States.
Environmental Benefits
- Recycling aluminum cans conserves natural resources, landfills, energy, time and money.
- Recycling aluminum consumes 95 percent less energy than does producing aluminum from ore—and that means lower emissions associated with production of the metal.
- Recycling of aluminum cans is ultra-efficient: within 60 days, a can is recycled, reprocessed into a new can and is back on store shelves.
- In 2009, nearly 55.5 billion aluminum cans were recycled, for a recycling rate of 57.4 percent, saving the energy equivalent of over 15 million barrels of crude oil, or America’s entire gasoline consumption for one day.
Economic Benefits
- Among commonly recycled materials in the consumer waste stream, recycled aluminum alone pays for its own cost of collection - and then some.
- The aluminum can is the most valuable container to recycle.
- Depending on current market price, recycling one ton of aluminum cans typically yields well over $1,000 of revenue, while recycling a ton of steel, glass, plastics, or paper comes nowhere close to covering the average collection cost of $200 per ton.
- Each year, the aluminum industry pays out more than $800 million for empty aluminum cans - money that goes toward organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Boy and Girl Scouts of America, and local schools. Money earned from recycling cans helps people help themselves and their communities.
- According to the U.S. Recycling Economic Information Study, more than 50,000 recycling and reuse establishments nationwide employ over one million people and generate an annual payroll of $37 billion and gross $236 billion in annual revenue. Aluminum can recycling underpins much of this infrastructure.
- Aluminum has a high market value and continues to provide an economic incentive to recycle. When aluminum cans are recycled curbside, they help pay for community services.
- Were it not for the recycling of aluminum beverage cans, most consumer recycling would not be remotely feasible and would probably cease—unless it were to be underwritten by government. Recycling aluminum thus benefits not only our industry and its consumers, but also the producers and consumers of many competing industries whose recycling efforts ours effectively underwrites.
Community Benefits
- Aluminum can recycling enables charitable organizations and groups to earn funds to further local projects. The money earned enhances programs, communities and improves the quality of people’s lives. From a local can drive to raise money for school improvements, to a Boy or Girl Scout troop “Cans Into Cash” competition to pay for camp, recycling is used all over the country to help others.
- The Aluminum Association's Cans for Caus program supports all organizations in their effort to recycle by providing recycling bins and help in locating nearby recycling centers. Organizations then collect aluminum cans, take them to the drop-off centers, and collect money in return. The collected funds are the property of the organization, which can distribute it as it sees fit.
Building/Construction Recycling
- An Aluminum Association survey of aluminum producers in mid-2008 indicated that the total recycled content of domestically produced, flat rolled products for the Building and Construction market was approximately 85%. The survey of the producers also indicated that on average ~60% of the total product content is from post-consumer sources. While these numbers represent the industry average, higher post-consumer and total recycled content material may be available from individual producers.
- Not only does the aluminum used in the building and construction industry contain a high percentage of both post-consumer and post-industrial recycled content, at the end of its long, useful life, the alumnum is 100% recyclable. Aluminum building components can be repeatedly recycled back into similar products with no loss of quality.
Automotive Recycling
- Automotive aluminum is infinitely recyclable and uses only 5 percent of the original energy required to put it back into a reusable form.
- Nearly 90 percent of auto aluminum is recovered and recycled.
- Automotive aluminum accounts for 5 to 10 percent of scrapped automobiles by weight, but represents 30 to 50 percent of its scrap value.
- Recycling the aluminum currently in use would equal 15 years’ primary output.
Allied Organizations
Aluminum Anodizers CouncilAluminum Extruders Council
Aluminium Federation Limited
Aluminium Federation of South Africa
Aluminium-Verband Schweiz
Aluminiumindustriens Miljøsekretariat
Aluminum Foil Container Manufacturers Association
Associacao Brasileira Do Aluminio (ABAL)
Australian Aluminium Council Limited
Can Manufacturers Institute
Curbside Value Partnership
Economic Strategy Institute
European Aluminium Association
European Aluminum Foil Association
Federation Des Chambres Syndicales Des Minerais Mineraux Industriels
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc.
Instituto Mexicano del Aluminio, A.C.
International Aluminium Institute
International Hard Anodizing Association
Japan Aluminium Association
Metal Construction Association
Metals Service Center Institute
Non-Ferrous Founders' Society
North American Die Casting Association
South East Center for Aluminum Technology (SECAT)
Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
L'Association de l'Aluminium du Canada