Analysis of anthropogenic aluminum cycle in China

Abstract

Anthropogenic aluminum cycle in China was analyzed by the aluminum flow diagram based on the life cycle of aluminum products. The whole anthropogenic aluminum cycle consists of four stages: alumina and aluminum production, fabrication and manufacture, use and reclamation. Based on the investigation on the 2003–2007 aluminum cycles in China, a number of changes can be found. For instance, resources self-support ratio (RSR) in alumina production dropped from 95.42% to 55.50%, while RSR in the aluminum production increased from 52.45% to 79.25%. However, RSR in the Chinese aluminum industry leveled off at 50% in the period of 2003–2007. The respective use ratios of domestic and imported aluminum scrap in the aluminum industry of 2007 were 5.38% and 9.40%. In contrast, both the net imported Al-containing resources and the lost quantity of Al-containing materials in aluminum cycle increased during the same period, as well as the net increased quantity of Al-containing materials in social stock and recycled Al-scrap. Proposals for promoting aluminum cycle were put forward. The import/export policy and reducing the loss of Al-containing materials for the aluminum industry in China in the future were discussed.