May 2013
| Business World Magazine | 171
still in use today, which is due to its inherent
durability and recyclability, Brock says.
“What they also showed in the report
was that recycling aluminum saves 95 per
cent of the energy and greenhouse gases as-
sociated with primary production,” she says.
“Recycling one aluminum can saves enough
energy to power a television for three hours.”
“Recycling is really key to the aluminum
industry’s long-term success and its ability to
continue to be a highly sustainable industry,”
she adds.
A CHALLENGING
GLOBAL ECONOMY
One of the toughest industry challenges fac-
ing the aluminum industry is the uncertain-
ty of the global economy. To overcome this
challenge, the AluminumAssociation allows
members to pool their financial resources
collectively for information or advocacy,
instead of “bearing the costs individually,”
Brock says.
“We think the aluminum industry is
well-positioned for the eventual upturn in
the economy,” she adds.
As for what`s coming up for the Alumi-
num Association, there are numerous pieces
of technical research underway that will con-
tinue to aid the aluminum industry in fur-
thering their sustainability message. For ex-
ample, they have a semi-fabricated product
life cycle analysis that will be completed by
the end of the year, which will enable them
to provide additional technical information
in a transparent way.
“We’re very committed to transparency
of information so that downstream custom-
ers and consumers can look at aluminum
versus other materials and see for themselves
the benefit of using aluminum,” Brock says.
A FUTURE FOR
MANUFACTURING
In the long term, the Aluminum Association
hopes to bolster the national focus on bring-
ing manufacturing back to the United States.
As companies consider where to invest, the
Aluminum Association will better position
themselves to provide a stabilized operating
environment for the aluminum industry na-
tionally. Long-term prospects are “very pos-
itive” because the United States has a high
demand for aluminum products, Brock says.
“It makes sense for aluminum to be produced
here because the downstream products are
ultimately being consumed here.”
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