Four primary aluminum producers have come together to work on low-carbon aluminum products and accelerate the race to net-zero carbon emissions in the industry.
On Jul 7, En+ Group, a majority stakeholder in UC Rusal, stated that it has reached an agreement with Pittsburgh’s Ball Corporation to lower the carbon footprint of the latter’s aerosol cans. Rusal’s inert anode aluminum will now be used to make slugs, cans, and aluminum bottles.
The use of this material will enable Ball to make aluminum packaging with the lowest carbon footprint in theory, since the inert anode produced metal is close to net-zero (stated at currently less than 0.01mt of CO2 equivalent per mt of aluminum). Ball Corp has already established a similar relationship with Novelis, the world’s largest aluminum recycler.
In a separate deal, Sweden’s Granges will work with Norway’s Norsk Hydro to bring low-carbon aluminum products to the automotive world, it announced on Thursday. Both companies own facilities in Europe and North America and hold a major market share in these regions. Granges will now use Hydro Reduxa, a low carbon brand by Hydro that has a carbon footprint of less than 4.0mtCo2/mtAl. The former’s customers include Swedish brands like Volvo and Scania as well as other major European and American brands.