Page 333 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

308 Cha pte r Se v e ntee n

Alcoa: Toward Sustainable Materials Management
Strategic Framework for Sustainability
†
The aluminum industry has been a leader in the practice of sustain-
ability, and aluminum has advantages for many applications due to
its light weight, durability, and recyclability. Increased recycling of
aluminum products can save large amounts of energy. For example,
according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), manu -
facture of aluminum cans from recycled sources requires only 5% as
much energy as manufacture from virgin bauxite ore (see Figure
17.2).The IAI helped to launch an Aluminium for Future Generations
initiative in 2003, which comprises thirteen voluntary objectives,
covering all phases of the aluminum life cycle, from mining to recy-
cling. These objectives include reductions in energy use, water use,
greenhouse gases and other emissions, as well as conversion of spent
pot-lining, a residual waste from smelters, into feedstocks for other
industries [3].
Alcoa is one of the largest and most fully integrated aluminum
companies in the world, with 97,000 employees in 34 countries. Its
operations include extraction of raw materials, processing them into
aluminum, converting the metal into end-use products, and recy-
cling aluminum products at the end of their useful life. In the year

FIGURE 17.2 Life cycle of aluminum can production and recycling.

† The North American spelling is “aluminum” although the official worldwide
spelling is “aluminium.”