Aluminum Emission Reporting Guidance

The document establishes a standardized framework for reporting aluminum emissions at the product level, utilizing fixed system boundaries to ensure comparability regardless of a company's vertical integration. It defines two primary reporting boundaries: a 'benchmarking boundary' (mining to final cast-house) and a 'full boundary' (mining to semi-fabrication). Key requirements include the use of primary data, the disclosure of scrap-based content (distinguishing between pre- and post-consumer scrap), and the reporting of mine-to-smelter cast-house emissions intensity for primary aluminum. The guidance also details specific calculation methods for energy impacts, including a hierarchy for sourcing renewable energy and a dual-reporting approach for pre-consumer scrap using both cut-off and co-product allocation methods.

• The aluminum sector is a major source of greenhouse gases, contributing over 1.1 gigaton of CO2 equivalent in 2018, which represents approximately 2% of global anthropogenic emissions.
• To ensure comparability across different ownership structures and avoid emissions shifting between Scopes 1 and 2 during the energy transition, the guidance mandates a fixed system boundary. This includes a 'benchmarking boundary' from bauxite mining to the final cast-house and a 'full boundary' that extends to semi-fabrication.
• Recycled aluminum production emissions are significantly lower than primary production, estimated at around 6% of the emissions from primary aluminum. However, scrap availability is a constraint, with recycled aluminum expected to meet only 50%–60% of total demand by 2050.
• The guidance requires dual reporting for the benchmarking product carbon footprint (PCF) using both the 'cut-off approach' (treating pre-consumer scrap as burden-free) and the 'co-product allocation approach' (assigning emissions to scrap based on mass). This is intended to incentivize post-consumer scrap recycling and low-carbon primary production.
• To prevent 'greenwashing' and drive actual decarbonization, the guidance establishes a hierarchy for sourcing renewable energy, prioritizing physical transitions of self-generation facilities and direct sourcing from off-site generators over unbundled Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs).
• Aluminum producers must report the 'share of primary data' used in their emissions calculations to incentivize the use of first-hand information from supply chain partners over secondary average emission factors.
• The framework requires the separate disclosure of post-consumer scrap share to encourage the improvement of end-of-life collection and recycling, as pre-consumer scrap is often mixed with post-consumer scrap in remelting processes.
• For products using primary metal, producers must report the mine-to-smelter cast-house emissions intensity to provide transparency on the climate performance of the primary production route.

APA

Liu, W., & Chalasani, S. (2023). Aluminum Emission Reporting Guidance. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/06/aluminum_guidance_public_consultation.pdf

Chicago

Liu, Wenjuan, and Sravan Chalasani. Aluminum Emission Reporting Guidance. RMI, 2023. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/06/aluminum_guidance_public_consultation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Liu |first1=Wenjuan |last2=Chalasani |first2=Sravan |title=Aluminum Emission Reporting Guidance |publisher=RMI |date=April 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/06/aluminum_guidance_public_consultation.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{liu2023aluminum, author = {Liu, Wenjuan and Chalasani, Sravan}, title = {{Aluminum Emission Reporting Guidance}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/06/aluminum_guidance_public_consultation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }