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........................