Turning aluminium “green,” one can at a time
What makes a product sustainable? Is it what you use to make it, how you make it, how the product is used or maybe where the product ends up? What about how well the product stands up against the competition? Today, sustainability is taking on a broader meaning, from how “green” a product or company is, to how long it can sustain its position in the marketplace. And those two assessments are quickly overlapping.
The challenge
This view of sustainability is very much true in the packaging industry where our key challenge is to produce a sustainable product that supports technological, economic and population growth, with finite resources and minimal social costs. That proves difficult, especially as the United Nations projects the world’s population to grow from seven to nine billion people between now and 2050.
Perhaps more alarming is the estimate that the world’s GDP will more than double by 2035. This is being driven in part by population growth, but even more so by increased productivity. Despite growing energy efficiencies, some estimate the overall increase in demand for energy will rise by 37 per cent, with more than 80 per cent of that energy coming from gas, coal and oil.
At the same time, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is saying we, as a global society, must reduce carbon emissions by roughly half by 2050 (compared to our 2010 emissions) in order to prevent global warming above the 2˚C that we are striving for.
And we’re already seeing the impact of inaction. In March 2015, global levels of CO2 passed 400 parts per million (ppm). This was the first time in recorded history we exceeded this level in just one month.
Aluminium’s opportunity
All of this is to say we need to act now to reduce our footprint, particularly when it comes to carbon emissions. I say “we” because the global aluminium industry, including associated power production, is responsible for more than one per cent of all global, man-made greenhouse gas emissions. It’s time for us to evolve as an industry to ensure our product’s sustainability in this rapidly changing global economy.
You see, although aluminium is infinitely recyclable, the average aluminium beverage can, globally, is still made with a considerable amount of primary aluminium. And primary aluminium requires 95 per cent more energy to make and produces 95 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than recycled aluminium.
This graph shows the difference in CO2 per can when comparing a beverage can made with little-to-no recycled content versus high-recycled content, meaning approximately 90 per cent or more recycled aluminium. Multiply this by 250 billion beverage cans produced annually and this is an incredible reduction in CO2, one that could have significant impact on our planet. And it’s a change that’s easy enough to make. By industry estimates, nearly 75 per cent of the aluminium ever made is still in use today, in buildings, automobiles, beverage cans and more. So at Novelis, we’ve set out to “urban mine” for this already existing aluminium and recycle it, again and again and again.
Taking steps forward
In 2011, Novelis set an aggressive sustainability agenda to dramatically increase the recycled content in our products. With a shift in capacity and supply chain investments from aluminium mining and smelting to aluminium recycling, Novelis quickly became the world’s largest recycler of aluminium in 2012. Over the past five years, Novelis has increased its total recycled content across all market segments from just over 30 percent to approximately 50 per cent and has set a new industry standard for beverage cans, with an average of 71 per cent recycled content in its beverage can sheet globally. Thus far, the company’s efforts have resulted in 17 per cent reduction in its absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions.
But, as you can see from the graph, 71 per cent is not the end goal. Novelis is working to achieve a minimum of 90 per cent recycled content in all of its beverage can body sheet. Today, the company is already producing at 90 per cent recycled content in select regions and is on track to achieve its global target. For customers that factor in the entire lifecycle impact of their products or use sustainability as part of their brand platform, Novelis currently offers a fully traceable third party certification of its metal on all continents, guaranteeing certified high-recycled content beverage can sheet of 90 per cent recycled content or higher.
The impact of change
What is the impact of all this? If we as an industry could shift all aluminium beverage cans almost entirely away from primary and get closer to 100 per cent recycled content, the results would be equivalent to eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions of more than four million automobiles every year. What may seem like the smallest, most obscure change to a product lifecycle can in fact have a huge impact.
For Novelis, this market opportunity is causing a complete shift in business model. Recycled content is quickly becoming the company’s largest source of metal inputs. Novelis now sources from thousands of scrap suppliers around the world and has closed-loop recycling contracts with customers to ensure metal comes back for recycling in a clean stream.
Better by design
But recycling is only one of many sustainability measures taken to ensure the future viability of Novelis’ products. The company’s global network of research and technology centers are working on innovations ranging from new recycle-friendly alloys to world class recycling technologies, enhancements in material quality to cutting edge product designs. Sustainability is only part of our evolution as an industry, albeit a large part.
More than 60 per cent of Fortune 100 companies have clean energy or greenhouse gas emission targets, and all have an innovation program in some form. As carbon taxes become a very real factor for businesses now and in the near future, companies that see sustainability within this broader definition of corporate and environmental survival will likely emerge as leaders in their respective industries. At Novelis, we’ve decided to lead instead of follow, and we believe the next generation – of our company and our society – will be glad we did.
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