Low Carbon Aluminum in Can Sheet Applications: A Marketing Gimmick or a Sustainable Trend?

Low carbon aluminum is the order of the day across the global aluminum industry. While it is taking shape as a marketable commodity with a designated premium across the global metal exchanges and in the financial market, several big-ticket end-use consumers have already unveiled their commitment towards carbon neutrality by vowing to use low carbon aluminum in their products.

In 2019, December, Apple partnered with the zero-carbon aluminum firm Elysis, a joint venture of the global mining giants Alcoa and Rio Tinto to create a supply chain for low-carbon aluminum. Apple bought the first commercial tons of aluminum from Elysis produced without “any direct carbon dioxide emissions.  Apple incorporated the first batch of material into its 16-inch MacBook Pros.

Further, America’s leading brewer Anheuser-Busch signed a contract with Rio Tinto to deliver a new standard of sustainable aluminum through their beer brand Michelob ULTRA. Michelob ULTRA beer will soon be distributed regionally in the U.S. over the coming months in the most sustainable low-carbon aluminum can. More than 2.5 million of the Michelob ULTRA “low-carbon cans” will be distributed under the pilot launch. Rio Tinto supplied aluminum to Anheuser-Busch from its ELYSIS joint venture.

These are incredible developments towards bringing down the carbon footprint of a company across the supply chain. More and more companies should use low carbon aluminum in their product supply chain, along with designing and producing recycle-friendly products.

My concern is about the other side of the coin, which is neither being highlighted by the producers nor by the end-users. 

Is low carbon aluminum being used in the correct and deserving applications? Although there has been an urgent eagerness in using low carbon aluminum in can applications, no significant development is being seen in the field of aerospace, automotive, and building and construction sector. In March 2021, Alcoa announced that it will be supplying low carbon aluminum to Ronal Group for manufacturing the Audi e-tron GT’s high-performance alloy wheels. The wheels will be produced with a combination of metal from the ELYSIS zero-carbon emissions smelting technology and EcoLum, Alcoa’s low-carbon aluminum brand. However, not much has been heard on low-carbon aluminum applications in such key sectors. 

Aluminum cans are the most recycled drinks container on the planet. According to the data from International Aluminum Institute (IAI), almost 70% of all aluminum beverage cans are recycled globally. 

North America is the biggest consumer of aluminum cans, accounting for more than one-third of the total global consumption. The U.S. accounted for the largest market share in North America. The consumers in the country recycle about 46% of their used beverage cans per year. Notably, most recycled aluminum beverage cans are back on the shelf as new cans in just 60 days, making them a textbook example of the circular economy. Further, aluminum beverage cans in the US have 73% recycled content on average. This is a good indicator of the aluminum beverage can’s superior environmental footprint. The recycled content calculation includes metal from both post-consumer and post-industrial scrap sources and complies with ISO reporting standards. Hence, Aluminum cans have become the most sustainable beverage package both from the point of view of recycling rate as well as the recycling content. However, on the flip side, despite all these advantages, about 54% of the used cans end in landfills every year. 

The question that arises here is how justified it is to use low carbon aluminum or green aluminum in a product, which already has 73% recycling content, and is the most sustainable beverage packaging in the world.  It is not a product, which needs further support urgently to improve its carbon credentials. Further, as mentioned earlier, about 54% of the used beverage cans end in landfills. Low carbon aluminum, which is produced specifically using renewable hydropower and newer technologies should be the last material to end in landfills. The need of the hour is to improve the collection and recycling rate of aluminum cans and to add more and more recycled content in the production of can sheets. This can improve aluminum’s sustainability index as a material in a cheaper and more achievable manner. As per IAI data, currently, the share of recycled aluminum in total production stands at about 34.7%.  With collaborative industry efforts, this can be improved to reach a 50/50 balance by 2050.

Hence, I see a possibility that the trend to use of low carbon aluminum for making beer cans is leveraging on the average customer’s growing consciousness about sustainable consumption. It springs from the fact that he or she is not only drinking a beverage from a 100% recyclable aluminum can, but also from a packaging made of pure material produced using renewable energy and newer technology. 

Same can be said about consumer electronics such as laptops and mobile phones, which have a short product life and a low recycling rate. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the recycling rate for consumer electronics in the USA was not more than 38% in 2018. Apparently, Apple recently announced that its MacBooks use 75% recycled content. However, the twist here is that the aluminum must have been purchased from outside sources. The company has conspicuously not mentioned its collects all its recycled aluminum from its factory scrap or end-of-life scraps. Hence, the ‘recycled content’ is more of a PR stunt than an actual sustainability achievement. 

The industry needs low carbon aluminum in end-user applications, which have a longer life span, consume aluminum in large volumes, and are parts of a well-executed closed recycling loop. They should be used in complex alloy applications that are consumed in highly durable, strong, and long-lasting end-products.  Presumably, high-end applications in the automotive, aerospace, defense, and building and construction sector can be a game-changer for low carbon aluminum as a commercial product. 

The matter needs further discourse and industry attention in order to bring about the necessary changes. However, under all circumstances, green aluminum demands a better treatment rather than being used in beer and beverage cans and ending in landfills.