The "dual carbon" goals bring new opportunities for the development of recycled aluminum.

The "Implementation Plan for Carbon Peaking in the Nonferrous Metal Industry" preliminarily proposes that by 2025, China's nonferrous metal industry strives to achieve carbon peaking ahead of schedule, aiming for a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2040. This plan is five years earlier than the national carbon peaking timeline. Carbon neutrality may bring historic new opportunities for the development of the recycled aluminum industry.
"Dual Carbon": "Wheel of Fire"
Or is it a "tightening spell"?
Data shows that the energy consumption for producing 1 ton of recycled aluminum is only 5% of that of primary aluminum, producing only 0.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Compared to producing the same amount of primary aluminum, producing 1 ton of recycled aluminum saves 3.4 tons of standard coal, conserves 14 cubic meters of water, and reduces solid waste emissions by 20 tons. The energy-saving and emission-reducing effects of recycled aluminum are evident.
"The supply-side structural reform of China's aluminum industry has set an upper limit on electrolytic aluminum production capacity, which is gradually approaching the red line. On the other hand, the lightweighting of automobiles brought about by new energy has become an inevitable trend in the industry, and aluminum alloy support materials are widely used in photovoltaic power generation systems. With the increase in production, recycled aluminum, as an excellent material, has greater and broader demand and utilization space, and will undoubtedly become an important measure for China to address the aluminum supply gap and achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality as soon as possible." A representative from the Nonferrous Metals Industry Association's Recycled Metals Branch pointed out at the "China Recycled Aluminum Industry Chain Integration Development Forum" during the 2021 China International Aluminum Industry Exhibition that while the recycled aluminum industry is developing rapidly, it also faces many challenges such as how to improve aluminum scrap recovery rates, enhance recycled aluminum processing capabilities, strengthen the utilization of recycled aluminum, and improve the utilization of recycled aluminum alloys.
In recent years, the technological progress in the recycled aluminum industry has accelerated, with breakthroughs in sorting technology making it more cost-effective to process aluminum waste of different grades, qualities, and alloys, creating conditions for better control of melting to maximize metal recovery rates. However, the aluminum industry is facing challenges. According to plans, by 2050, the total emissions from the aluminum industry must be reduced from the current 1.1 billion tons to 250 million tons. Of the 250 million tons, the smelting portion is required to have zero power emissions, while emissions from the production process (anode portion) must be controlled to below 200 million tons, and recovery and processing must be controlled to below 50 million tons. The establishment of this goal makes the production of recycled aluminum increasingly important, and improving metal recovery rates and energy and resource efficiency will be crucial.
Li Yanping, director of the Carbon Neutrality Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, reminded enterprises during her speech at the "China Recycled Aluminum Industry Chain Integration Development Forum" held concurrently with the exhibition that compared to carbon peaking, carbon neutrality has higher requirements for the absolute reduction of carbon dioxide, making the challenges more daunting. "The 'dual carbon' may be a tightening spell, but it can also be a rapidly developing wheel of fire. To turn the tightening spell into a wheel of fire, enterprises need to actively interpret policies and reform," she said.
Closed-loop recycling
Supporting low-carbon development of aluminum processing enterprises
"The proposal of the 'dual carbon' goal will increase the domestic aluminum processing enterprises' use of aluminum scrap." Wang Weidong, a senior expert at Beijing Antai Technology Information Co., Ltd., stated recently at the "2021 China International Aluminum Processing Forum" that the use of low-carbon materials in production has become the future trend of the aluminum processing industry.
In recent years, the proportion of aluminum scrap in downstream aluminum supply has remained relatively stable, but China's recycled aluminum output accounts for only about 16% of aluminum supply, far below the 70% level of some foreign countries and regions, and also lower than the global average level of 32.8%. According to data from the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, the United States produced 3.184 million tons of recycled aluminum in 2020, accounting for 75.6% of aluminum supply. The UK produced 127,000 tons of recycled aluminum, accounting for 78%. Germany's recycled aluminum output accounted for 50.8%.
In developed countries like the United States, the use of aluminum scrap is quite common among downstream aluminum enterprises. Currently, in North America, aluminum extrusion billets are mainly made from remelted aluminum rods, with 63% being recycled materials, while in China, aluminum extrusion billets are still primarily made from primary aluminum.
Closed-loop recycling and quality retention have become a direction for the development of recycled aluminum. However, since China's aluminum closed-loop recycling system is still in its early development stage, the processing capacity for recycled aluminum needs to be improved. Most of China's recycled aluminum is difficult to apply in wrought aluminum processing and can only be downgraded for use in die-casting aluminum. According to He Zhiqiang, about 6 million tons of wrought waste (4 million tons from rolling and 2 million tons from extrusion) are ultimately downgraded to make castings. "As the supply of old waste materials after consumption increases and the demand for casting products stabilizes, alloy pre-treatment sorting will be crucial for the future," he said.
Western countries have rich experience in quality retention utilization. The aluminum plate and strip industry has established a mature closed-loop recycling system for used aluminum cans and has also established a complete recycling system for used aluminum cans. Foreign leading enterprises achieve quality retention utilization of aluminum scrap through closed-loop recycling cooperation with downstream customers, pursuing the maximization of the resource value of aluminum scrap. Novelis has created the world's largest closed-loop recycling system for automotive aluminum scrap, with the proportion of recycled aluminum used in its production materials increasing from 33% in 2010 to 61% in 2019. Novelis and Ford Motor Company have established the world's largest closed-loop recycling system for F-series pickup trucks, through which 90% of the metal waste from Ford pickup truck bodies is recycled and reused. Ford's two F-150 production plants in the U.S. recycle about 20 million pounds of aluminum scrap each month, which can be used to produce 30,000 F-150 pickups.
Wang Weidong stated that through the construction of this closed-loop recycling system, not only are resources and energy saved, and carbon dioxide emissions reduced, but the manufacturing costs of using aluminum plates to produce vehicle bodies are also lowered. Achieving homogeneous recycling and utilization of aluminum materials in scrapped vehicles will greatly enhance the enthusiasm of manufacturers. Wang Weidong stated that through the construction of this closed-loop recycling system, not only are resources and energy saved, and carbon dioxide emissions reduced, but the manufacturing costs of using aluminum plates to produce vehicle bodies are also lowered. Achieving homogeneous recycling and utilization of aluminum materials in scrapped vehicles will greatly enhance the enthusiasm of manufacturers.
He believes that currently, the aluminum waste suitable for domestic aluminum processing enterprises to establish a closed-loop recycling system mainly comes from aluminum end products with short life cycles and large application volumes; aluminum end products with relatively single or concentrated aluminum alloy grades. The preferred waste materials are edge scraps from aluminum can enterprises, waste aluminum alloy templates, waste aluminum alloy cables, printing plate bases, as well as waste aluminum alloy doors and windows, and aluminum sheet process waste from vehicles.
As more and more aluminum products enter the lifecycle waste stage, more aluminum scrap will begin to be recycled and reused, and in the future, China will enter a rapid recovery period for aluminum scrap generation. The supply of old aluminum scrap in the domestic market will significantly increase.
Wang Weidong believes that under the "dual carbon" goals, increasing the proportion of recycled aluminum in China's aluminum processing industry will significantly reduce carbon emissions. "If during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the aluminum processing industry increases the proportion of waste aluminum used year by year, by 2025, the industry average level will reach 35%. At the same time, by promoting energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, by 2025, with a total output increased by 6 million tons compared to 2020, the industry's carbon emissions will be reduced by 86 million tons compared to 2020," he said.
He suggested that the proportion of waste aluminum used by downstream enterprises should be encouraged from the perspective of the entire product life cycle.