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Final Report Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Aluminum Beverage Cans Aluminum Association, Inc. Washington, D.C. PE Americas

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Final Report Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Aluminum Beverage Cans Aluminum Association, Inc. Washington, D.C. PE Americas May 21, 2010 Final Report Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Aluminum Beverage Cans Prepared for: Aluminum Association, Inc. Washington, D.C. Prepared by: PE Americas Contact: PE Americas Nuno da Silva 344 Boylston Street Neil d’Souza Boston, MA 02116, USA Marc Binder Phone +1 [617] 247‐4477 Fax +1 [617] 236‐2033 E‐mail n.daSilva@pe‐international.com Internet www.pe‐americas.com Final Report: Can LCA PE Americas TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................................................III TABLE OF FIGURES.........................................................................................................................VI LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................VIII ACRONYMS .................................................................................................................................VIII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................XI 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 2 GOAL AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................. 2 2.1 GOAL......................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 SCOPE........................................................................................................................................ 3 2.2.1 Product System(s) Boundaries............................................................................................ 3 2.2.2 Data Collection, Software and Databases.......................................................................... 7 2.2.3 Data Calculation................................................................................................................. 8 2.2.4 Functional Unit ................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.5 Cut‐ off Criteria................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.6 Allocation.......................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.7 Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methodology & Impact Categories Considered ................ 10 2.2.8 Data Quality Requirements .............................................................................................. 10 2.2.9 Critical Review .................................................................................................................. 12 3 PRIMARY ALUMINUM PRODUCTION...................................................................................... 13 3.1 PROCESS DESCRIPTION................................................................................................................. 13 3.1.1 Bauxite Mining ................................................................................................................. 14 3.1.2 Alumina Production.......................................................................................................... 17 3.1.3 Anode Production............................................................................................................. 23 3.1.4 Aluminum Smelting .......................................................................................................... 25 3.1.5 Primary Ingot Casting (Cast House).................................................................................. 34 3.1.6 Electrical Power Mix Model for Electrolysis...................................................................... 38 3.2 LCI RESULTS.............................................................................................................................. 41 3.2.1 Primary Energy Demand................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2 Carbon dioxide Emissions ................................................................................................. 43 3.3 LCIA RESULTS ........................................................................................................................... 44 Table of Contents 3.3.1 Acidification Potential ...................................................................................................... 44 Chapter: 3.3.2 Eutrophication Potential ...................................................................................................45 3.3.3 Global Warming Potential (100 years)..............................................................................46 3.3.4 Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential..........................................................................49 4 BEVERAGE CAN PRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 51 4.1 PROCESS DESCRIPTION.................................................................................................................51 4.1.1 Can Sheet ..........................................................................................................................51 4.1.2 Can Manufacturing ...........................................................................................................58 4.1.3 Secondary Aluminum Ingot / Recycling.............................................................................63 4.2 DATA COLLECTION AND MODELING................................................................................................69 4.2.1 Can Sheet ..........................................................................................................................69 4.2.2 Can Manufacturing ...........................................................................................................69 4.3 LCI RESULTS (AVERAGED “GATE‐TO‐GATE” INVENTORIES)...................................................................73 4.3.1 Beverage Can Sheet ..........................................................................................................73 4.3.2 Can Manufacturing ...........................................................................................................74 4.3.3 Secondary Aluminum Ingot / Recycling.............................................................................75 4.4 LCI AND LCIA RESULTS PER 1000 CANS..........................................................................................77 4.4.1 Closed Loop Approach.......................................................................................................77 4.4.2 Recycled content approach...............................................................................................81 4.5 UBC RECYCLING SCENARIOS ..........................................................................................................84 5 CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................................... 86 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................. 87 APPENDIX A: ESTIMATION OF TOTAL PRIMARY ENERGY DEMAND................................................ 89 APPENDIX B: TRANSPORTATION DATA FOR RAW MATERIALS AND FINISHED PRODUCTS .............. 94 APPENDIX C: IMPACT INDICATORS ............................................................................................... 95 PRIMARY ENERGY CONSUMPTION..............................................................................................................95 GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL .................................................................................................................96 ACIDIFICATION POTENTIAL........................................................................................................................97 EUTROPHICATION POTENTIAL....................................................................................................................98 PHOTOCHEMICAL OZONE CREATION POTENTIAL (SMOG)................................................................................99 OZONE DEPLETION POTENTIAL ..................................................................................................................99 APPENDIX D: DATA QUALITY EVALUATION ..................................................................................101 APPENDIX E: CRITICAL REVIEW REPORT.......................................................................................102 5.1 ALUMINUM BEVERAGE CAN LCI REPORT FEBRUARY 2010 ...............................................................103 REVIEWER COMMENTS FEBRUARY 26, 2010.............................................................................................103 Final Report: Can LCA PE Americas 5.2 ALUMINUM BEVERAGE CAN LCI REPORT OCTOBER 2009................................................................ 104 REVIEWER COMMENTS DECEMBER 4, 2009 ............................................................................................. 104 APPENDIX F: CRITICAL REVIEWERS’ BIO....................................................................................... 107 Table of Contents Chapter: TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Process flow chart for aluminum beverage can under closed loop recycling........................
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