• Q. 1 When was EAA established and why?
• >> Q. 2 What are the main challenges the EAA and the European aluminium industry are facing today?
• Q. 3 What is the EAA’s vision and mission in terms of sustainability?
• Q. 4 How do aluminium applications and products help reduce carbon emissions?
• Q. 5 GHG emissions are a key indicator concerning environmental sustainability. How is the industry tackling the issue?
• Q. 6 What are the key drivers for emissions reduction?
• Q. 7 Why does your industry support a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) approach to products?
• Q. 8 Why is your industry favouring End of Life recycling vs. the recycled content concept as an indicator of recycling efficiency?
• Q. 9 How much energy is saved by aluminium recycling compared to primary production?
• Q. 10 If recycling saves more than 95% of energy when compared to the primary production; can it replace the primary production?
• Q. 11 More and more focus is set by policymakers on energy efficiency, eco-design, eco-labelling and Green Public Procurement. How is the aluminium industry positioning itself?
• Q. 12 Why is weight reduction one of the most efficient means to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles?
• Q.13 Is it true that light cars are not as safe as heavier cars?
• Q. 14 Recycling rates for the automotive and building sectors are very high (95% and 92% respectively), while average aluminium packaging recycling rate stands at 55%.
• Q. 15 How to combine competitiveness and environmental “performance”? Beyond current activities, what do you see as future opportunities for fostering the industry’s sustainability?

What are the main challenges the EAA and the European aluminium industry are facing today?

Our industry was heavily affected by the economic crisis as the order bookings for our industry fell sharp starting in October 2008. The industry is gradually recovering but the operators are still facing many uncertainties.

As non-ferrous metal (and alumina) sales reference the latest London Metal Exchange (LME) prices, we cannot pass through regionally imposed costs, such as those arising from the EU electricity pricing platforms (including indirect CO2 costs) and direct costs paid by our smelters;
EU27 benefits from one of the best balanced energy mixes in the world, so it should have competitive electricity prices, but this is not the case, and the current market design does not seem able to address the issue.

Electricity prices in Europe are dramatically damaging our industry competitivenessas compared with other global actors (most foreign competitors negotiate long term contracts with generators). Long-term contracts have come (or are coming) to an end. Renegotiating such long-term contracts is now virtually impossible for our industry and if no renewal is ensured this could mean that most of the European smelters would have to close their plants. To operate and invest, industry must access energy on terms comparable to our global competitors.

Moreover, the commitments endorsed unilaterally by the European Union should be compensated. Environmental objectives must be shared in a fair, transparent and proportionate manner, and each sector in Europe’s industry has to bear its fair share of the burden. It has to be reminded that the aluminium industry reduced its emissions in absolute terms, despite a production increase. This was possible thanks to a constant commitment, investments in modern technology, attention to good operating practices. Aluminium Industry may be able to demonstrate that the net impact on society of the use of aluminium as a material is a positive contribution to the challenge of Global Climate Change (Life cycle thinking). One should not forget that we are talking of a material with unique recyclability and actually very high recycling rate.

A last important threat is deriving from the increasing quantity of aluminium scrap which is being exported outside Europe. Aluminium scrap is an important energy containing raw material and recycling aluminium is one of the less energy intensive production processes. As there is a shortage of energy and electricity in some World regions, those last are keen to acquire our scrap in order to lower their electricity consumption. Therefore, they are sometimes ready to pay high prices to import our scrap, and EU that used to be a net scrap importer has now moved to a significant scrap exporter, as about 850 kilotonne of scrap were exported in 2008. So here too, we need as an association to help developing the recuperation and collection of scrap within Europe and find legal ways to keep this scrap in Europe for recycling purposes and in order to better conserve our energy