A diverse group of major companies, including GM, Ford and Pepsi Co., have issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) urging the department to explore the efficacy of American-made clean aluminum. This comes as primary aluminum production across the United States continues to plummet.
Consisting of 14 companies in total, this letter urges the DOE to invest in American-made clean aluminum to retain and create manufacturing jobs, reduce industrial emissions, and grow a vital industry. To this end, the companies encourage the department to use investment from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to secure an affordable supply of clean energy, rather than allowing American-made primary aluminum to disappear.
“America needs a reliable supply of domestically produced, clean aluminum,” the letter reads. “As significant buyers of primary aluminum, we strongly support federal investments via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to ensure that the United States will be a leader in producing this critical material, which is essential to America’s economic growth.”
The companies then go on to point out that aluminum is an indispensable resource, and serves as the building blocks of a clean energy economy. In fact, the letter states that global demand for aluminum is set to increase nearly 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, and mentions that in the past 18 months, the U.S. primary aluminum industry has been plagued by layoffs, curtailed production, and closures.
“Today, primary aluminum production in the United States is in crisis,” the letter continues. “While global demand for primary aluminum is forecast to grow over the coming decades, domestic primary aluminum production has continued to decline and is at risk of disappearing. Spiking electricity prices, lack of access to low-cost renewable energy, and insufficient federal investment have pushed the remaining six primary smelters to the brink.”
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Comments
I just sold 110 pounds of crushed aluminum cans and foil for $0.45 per pound last Saturday.
that’s a lot of beer.
In Canada (and yes a few states in the US) the provinces have return programs for bottles and cans. 10 cents per can or bottle (over 20oz is 20 cents). Gotta be the best closed loop recycling program. And you would’ve made a heck of a lot more than $50.
No, that’s deposit is just a refund of money you paid when you bought the product, mine is pure profit.
That 110lbs was all consumed by you? Unless you had a ton of foil that’s just shy of 4000 cans. No one else paid the deposit on those?
There’s no deposit in my free red state. That’s about 18-24 months of saving pop cans. It was almost a level 6’ pickup bed full of bagged crushed cans and foil pans.
Must be in Michigan.
No, Michigan has a deposit on cans my State doesn’t.
Brandon-“but how will china crush is if we don’t buy aluminum from them???”
What is clean aluminum? Can recycle aluminum be considered clean after processing? No doubt the battery assembly for EV’s would be aluminum plus more automobiles will have more aluminum body components. Don’t forget jet aircraft?
I think they are talking about virgin, new aluminum here. Part of the problem here is that aluminum recycling rates are so high, that it hurts the ability of producers to mine and process new aluminum
And yet GM contracts with suppliers demand a year over cost reduction of the product/commodity/item that GM buys from that supplier…
How does this business practice impact the ‘shrinking’ primary aluminum supplier base?