IAI backs aluminum emissions reduction target

The London-based International Aluminium Institute (IAI) has launched an initiative it says commits to transparently and publicly track ambition and progress in the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction of all its member companies.

This initiative, launched in coordination with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has already been backed by several global aluminum producers.

Early signatories include Aluminerie Alouette, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Alcoa Corp., Alumina Ltd., Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA), Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Hindalco Industries Ltd. (which also owns Novelis Inc.), Norsk Hydro, Mitsubishi Corp., Rio Tinto Aluminium, Rusal, Sohar Aluminium and South32. Combined, the companies produce 221 million tons of GHG emissions annually, according to IAI.

As part of initiative, IAI says it is committed to tracking and reporting on its member companies’ ambition and progress in GHG reductions and reporting total global GHG emissions of the aluminum industry on a public and annual basis.

“Emissions reduction will require investment in new equipment and technology at company and facility level,” the association says. One component of the process specifically mentioned by IAI entails the use of aluminum scrap as a feedstock.

The initiative calls for setting a long-term GHG emission reduction target, possibly in 2024, and preferably setting and achieving a net-zero target by 2050. An interim GHG emission reduction target also is likely for 2030, according to IAI.

Signatory facilities will agree to use the “IAI Good Practice for Calculation of Primary Aluminium Carbon Footprint Methodology,” as well as the “IAI Guidelines on Transparency – Aluminium Scrap” as calculation references.

“The aluminum industry is committed to rapidly reducing GHG emissions and acknowledges that investment and action is required to achieve global goals,” IAI Secretary General Miles Prosser says. “The IAI has consistently managed programs to foster collaboration and action on sustainability and this initiative will drive ambition and action to decarbonize aluminum supply chains.”

Satish Pai, managing director of India-based Hindalco Industries and chair of the IAI board, points to recycling specifically as part of the solution.

“We gladly welcome the initiative to be transparent on GHGs,” Pai says. “Hindalco has been a leader in sustainable metal manufacturing for years. Because of its infinite recyclability, aluminum is ideal for circularity—the carbon footprint of recycled metal is just 5 percent of primary smelting.

"We are among the global leaders in circularity with our subsidiary Novelis using recycled metal for 61 percent of its total aluminum usage, over 2.3 million tons last fiscal year.”

“The world needs aluminum for the transition to a lower carbon world, and we are ready to meet the expected increase in demand for low-carbon aluminum,” Alcoa President and CEO Bill Oplinger says. “Alcoa has an ambition to achieve net zero by 2050, and we’re working diligently to get there with mid-term goals while also boosting the percentage of renewable energy to power our smelters.”

Hilde Merete Aasheim, CEO of Norway-based Norsk Hydro, which has growing recycled-content production capacity in the United States, says, “Hydro set ambitious targets to reduce GHG emissions by 30 percent by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050, and we are well on track to deliver. We are supporting the International Aluminium Institute’s initiative for an industry-wide decarbonization path.”