 Trashed Cans
The Global Environmental Impacts of Aluminum Can Wasting
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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i |
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Acknowledgments |
iv |
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Biography of the Author |
v |
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Foreword |
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1 |
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ALUMINUM CAN RECYCLING AND WASTING IN AMERICA |
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5 |
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I. THE GROWTH OF ALUMINUM CAN WASTING |
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Brief history of aluminum can sales and recycling |
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8 |
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II. THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF WASTING AND REPLACEMENT PRODUCTION |
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Bauxite mining and alumina refining are global undertakings |
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Primary aluminum production is energy-intensive |
12 |
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Greenhouse gases generated by primary aluminum manufacturing |
13 |
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Other toxic air pollutants from primary aluminum smelting |
15
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Comparative rates of water use in primary and secondary manufacturing |
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Other material inputs |
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Waste products from primary aluminum manufacturing |
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Other impacts of hydroelectric development associated with aluminum production |
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III. DRIVING FORCES OF ALUMINUM CAN WASTING AND RECYCLING |
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Can sales skyrocket in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but recycling meets the challenge |
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Wasting grows, recycling slips in the 1990’s |
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Changing beverage consumption patterns |
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The diminishing role of financial incentives in the 1990’s |
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Other factors contributing to decreased recycling and increased wasting |
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IV. REVERSING THE WASTING TREND |
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1. Increase financial incentives through voluntary or mandatory deposits |
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2. Legislate recycling goals with specific dates: the Swedish Experience |
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3. Expand existing collection infrastructures and create new ones |
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4. Increase public education to promote existing recycling opportunities |
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A multi-pronged approach is needed |
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V. CONCLUSION |
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ENDNOTES |
From the Executive Summary
The quantity of aluminum wasted in America is staggering. In the year 2001,
760,000 tons of aluminum cans were wasted—165,000 tons more than were wasted in
1990. This was more aluminum metal than was used nationally for trucks, buses, bridges,
and roadway applications combined.1 Between 1990 and 2000, Americans wasted a total
of 7.1 million tons of cans: enough to manufacture 316,000 Boeing 737 airplanes—or
enough to reproduce the world’s entire commercial airfleet 25 times.
At a time when large parts of the country are experiencing electricity price hikes,
Americans continue to squander one of the most energy-intensive consumer products on
the market: single-serving, single-use aluminum beverage cans. Despite the significant
energy-saving potential of recycling used aluminum beverage cans (UBC’s), the national
UBC recycling rate dropped below 50% in 2001. Had the 50.7 billion cans wasted last year
been recycled, they would have saved the energy equivalent of 16 million barrels of crude
oil: enough energy to generate electricity for 2.7 million U.S. homes for a year, or enough
to supply over a million cars with gasoline for a year (see Appendix C).
Aluminum can production contributes to a panoply of environmental damages,
many of which could be avoided through increased recycling efforts. Mining and refining
bauxite ore and other material inputs generates large quantities of toxic solid waste, liquid
effluents and air emissions. Primary aluminum smelting and beverage can manufacturing
also require vast amounts of electricity and generate additional pollutants. Mining,
materials processing, and energy production—including the construction of scores of
hydroelectric dams to power aluminum smelters—are also responsible for the widespread
destruction of wildlife habitat and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of indigenous
peoples around the world....
...While our analysis focuses on the environmental impacts of wasting, there are also
economic impacts. For example, at an average scrap value of 58¢/lb, the 45.8 billion cans
wasted in 2000 represented almost $800 million in lost gross revenues. From 1986 to
2000, about 9.6 million tons of cans with a market value of over $10 billion were wasted
(see Appendix B-1)....
...Aluminum can recycling is on a downward spiral, and the current recycling
infrastructure is not capable of halting this decline. We hope this report will generate
greater public awareness of the environmental damage resulting from the production of
aluminum cans, and will encourage government, industry, and the American people to
adopt aggressive strategies to reverse the 38-year aluminum can wasting trend and its
associated environmental impacts.
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