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

Triple-Bottom-LineLife-Cycle-Thinking

Sustainability – Step IResearch 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:

life cycle assessment survey, industry sustainability management survey, product use phase survey, recycling survey, etc. – a very slow and painful process

Sustainability – Step IIBenchmark 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!