Last week, December 7, at the hearing of the GHG emissions intensity investigation, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and the Aluminum Association intimated to the US International Trade Commission (USITC) that the domestic recycled materials industry’s support for the aluminium producers to fight climate change by providing high-quality renewable materials as replacements for extracted resources has resulted in lowering energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Both ISRI and the Aluminium Association testified to this fact after conducting surveys on several aluminium companies in response to the USITC’s fact-finding investigation on the intensity level of greenhouse gas emissions from aluminium and steel produced in the United States.
ISRI pointed out at the hearing that nearly 80 per cent of the US aluminium is produced using recycled aluminium, while 70 per cent of steel is produced using recycled steel. The association also claimed that the US aluminium and steel sectors are more efficient than their global counterparts, adding that only 30 per cent of steel is produced globally using recycled content.
ISRI Assistant Vice President of International Trade and Global Affairs, Adam Shaffer, said: “The US recycled materials industry plays a vital role in combatting climate change by promoting safe, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible recycling. Broadly speaking in the United States, recycled commodities annually save the equivalent of nearly 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide—equal to the energy use of 48 million homes for one year.”
