Life Cycle Inventory Data and Environmental Metrics for the Primary Aluminium Industry
The 2015 Life Cycle Inventory Data provides, for the first time, global and regionalised input and output process data associated with the production of primary aluminium from mine to casthouse. It highlights the progress in reporting of environmental performance of the global primary aluminium industry, and addresses the need for specific regional data for use in LCA, with greater reporting coverage of new, emergent regions of production alongside established aluminium-producing regions.
Since 2010, global aluminium production has increased by over 35% with considerable improvements in global production technology, as old, outdated plants have been phased out and investment in new, large-scale, state of the art production capacities has grown.
The Environmental Metrics Chapter of the report provides Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) results for the global primary aluminium industry using the 2015 LCI data and LCA software. It also evaluates the significance of potential environmental impacts based on the LCI for five archetypal regional supply scenarios to demonstrate how the LCI data can be used in regionalised impact assessments and the impact that background datasets can have on LCIA results.
European Life Cycle Inventory Data for Primary and Recycled Aluminium, Rolling and Extrusion
Life cycle practitioners should try to use as specific data as possible when carrying out Life Cycle Analysis for aluminium products. The European aluminium industry promotes life-cycle thinking and supports the use of LCA. Where studies require European data, European Aluminium can provide information and data to support life cycle work.
North American Life Cycle Assessment, Tracking Product Impact Through All Life Stages
The North American aluminum industry, through the work of the Aluminum Association, was an early proponent in developing comprehensive research on the environmental impact of material production and use. The aluminum industry supports the life cycle assessment approach to research which tracks the impact of a product in all stages of its life — from raw material extraction, to production and use, to disposal or recycling.