The aluminium economy is a circular economy. For most aluminium products, the metal is not actually consumed during the product's lifetime, but simply used with the potential to be used again through recycling. Aluminium can be recycled again and again without any loss of its inherent properties, since its atomic structure is not altered during melting. Therefore, the life cycle of an aluminium product is not the traditional "cradle-to-grave" sequence, but rather a renewable "cradle-to-cradle".

Energy saving

The high value of aluminium scrap is a key incentive and major economic impetus for recycling, independent of any legislative or political initiatives to encourage recycling. Aluminium scrap has considerable market value because most of the energy required for the production of primary aluminium is embodied in the metal itself and, consequently, in the scrap. Therefore, the energy needed to melt aluminium scrap is only a fraction of that required for primary aluminium production. Recycling of aluminium products needs only 5% of the energy needed for primary aluminium production.

Greenhouse gas reductions

In addition, recycling of aluminium products only emits 5% of the greenhouse gas emitted in primary aluminium production. Recycling of scrap from used products ("old scrap") saved over 70 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide in 2005. Since its inception, the recycling of old scrap has already avoided over one billion metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

A growing economy

Recycling is a major aspect of continued aluminium use, as more than a third of all the aluminium currently produced globally originates from recycled metal; a trend which is on the increase. The aluminium recycling industry has effectively tripled its output from 5 million tonnes in 1980 to over 16 million tonnes in 2006. During the same time primary metal use has grown from 15 to 30 million tonnes. The proportion of recycled aluminium to the global demand for the metal has grown from less than 20% in 1950 to approximately 33% in 2006. Of an estimated total of over 700 million tonnes of aluminium produced in the world since commercial manufacture began in the 1880s, about three quarters of that total is still in productive use with credit, at least in part, to the recycling industry.

The aluminium recycling industry recycles all the aluminium scrap it can obtain from end-of-life products and aluminium by-products. The rate at which end-of-life aluminium is recycled varies depending on the product sector, scrap processing technology and on society's commitment to collect aluminium containing products at end-of-life. Each application sector requires its own recycling solutions and the industry supports initiatives that seek to optimise the recycling rate.

Improving the overall recycling rate is an essential element in the pursuit of sustainable development.

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