A logo featuring a three-dimensional, crisscrossing wireframe globe on the left. To the right, the words "INTERNATIONAL ALUMINIUM INSTITUTE" are displayed, with "INTERNATIONAL" in gray and "ALUMINIUM INSTITUTE" in turquoise.
CONTACT
A logo featuring a three-dimensional, crisscrossing wireframe globe on the left. To the right, the words "INTERNATIONAL ALUMINIUM INSTITUTE" are displayed, with "INTERNATIONAL" in gray and "ALUMINIUM INSTITUTE" in turquoise.

Greenhouse Gases

IAI-GreenhouseGases
IAI-Industry&Sustainability

Decarbonisation Pathways In Aluminium VS Competing Materials 

Published in

2025


This study builds upon Eunomia’s previous studies into materials decarbonisation pathways. The scope of this report is focused on aluminium in comparison to four competing materials— steel, copper, container glass, PVC —taken from the perspective of their global value chains. The analysis looks at the Net Zero pathways that are being proposed by the industries and how these compare with 1.5C aligned carbon budgets. 

Illustration of five circular icons featuring aluminum cans, a car, a wire spool, glass bottles, and a window frame. These symbols highlight the versatile applications of aluminum as it navigates decarbonisation pathways amidst competing materials.

Download attachments from this resource.

Decarbonisation Pathways in Aluminium Vs. Competing Materials - Carbon Budgeting on the path to Net Zero
Decarbonisation Pathways: Aluminium vs Competing Materials Factsheet
Decarbonisation Pathways: Aluminium vs Competing Materials Press Release

Related Resources

ALL

Can-to-Can Recycling: Mettallurgy, Processing and Circularity

Aluminium beverage cans are a true symbol of circularity, endlessly recyclable without losing quality. Our latest fact sheet explores how alloy design, process control and advanced recycling turn used cans back into new ones again and again. By combining precise metallurgy with efficient scrap sorting and delacquering, metal recovery improves ...

Published in

No data was found

Global Beverage Container Recycling Dataset

Eunomia was commissioned by the Global Beverage Can Circularity Alliance (GBCCA) to calculate the collected for recycling and recycling rates for aluminium cans, PET bottles, and glass bottles across global markets.  Conducted in 2025 as the first in a three-year series, the research captured data representing 90% of the global market ...

Published in

IAI-Industry&Sustainability
IAI-Recycling

Reference document on how to treat scrap flows in carbon footprint calculations for aluminium products

In 2022, the IAI published Guidelines on Transparency that state that when reporting the cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of products that contain scrap there should be full transparency on the methodology used for the carbon footprint calculation. This reference document, summarising three potential approaches, should serve aluminium producers to disclose the methodology they ...

Published in