feedstock 109 R ecycling 1 k g of aluminium saves up to 8 k g of bauxite ore and 4 k g of other chemical products 110 Primary production of aluminium is a highly electrointensive process with 1416 MWh electricity use per tonne primary aluminium produced This process requires a steady uninterrupted supply of baseload electricity For secondary aluminium the elec tricity use per tonne aluminium produced is 0 120 34 MWht 111 Aluminium is a k ey material for the circular economy with an enormous decarbonization potential stemming from its circular properties Aluminium has been recycled from the beginning of its industrial produc tion 125 years ago and as a result today about 75 percent of all aluminium ever produced remains in use Around half of the aluminium produced in Europe originates from recycled materials with recycling levels of 9095 percent for endoflife vehicles and building parts and close to 75 percent for beverage cans 112 Figure 23 left Evolution of GHG emissions from EU28EFT A aluminium production Mt C O2eq Sources European Aluminium 113114 right A verage electricity use in primary and secondary aluminium production MWht Al Source Ecofys et al 2009 Between 1997 and 2015 the total GHG emissions from aluminium production in the EU 28 and EFT A fell 51 Direct emissions were reduced by 47 over same period This is due to PFC emissions being almost eliminated from 228 to 0 4 Mt or down by 98 19902015 115 due to better process management avoiding faring in aluminium cell pots and fue gas t r e a t m e n t 109 ICF 2015 110 CIES ND 111 Ecofys et al 2009a 112 European Aluminium 113 European Aluminium 2018b 114 In the EFT A the emissions from aluminium production were 334 Mt CO 2 eq in 2015 a 9 reduction compared to emisissions in 1997 367 Mt CO 2 eq These represented almost only direct emissions given the e xtreme high share of hydroelectricity in EFT A Source European Aluminium 115 PFC emissions as reported by EU member states to the UNFCCC and the EU s GHG monitoring mechanism IPCC sector 2C 3 see see EEA 2019 Most emission reductions of PFC took place before 1997 with only 4 further reduction of PFC emissions between 1997 and 2015 er than cryolite and collects on the cell bottom The metal is generally cast as ingots which are at least 99 pure with small amounts of iron and silicon being the main impurities 107 Carbon is consumed in the anode process much of it reacting with the liberated o xygen The anode block s must thus be renewed regularly T ypically a cell has twenty anode block s one being replaced each day in a twentyday cycle to replace all of the block s at once would result in too much cooling of the cell with the block size being designed to give an operating life of 2021 days 108 Figure 22 Primary production of aluminium electrolysis cell source CIES ND Downstream treatment of aluminium includes rolling mills e xtruders and casters Secondary aluminium production involves using recovered or recycled aluminium from waste streams as raw material to produce aluminium Secondary aluminium production uses far less energy than primary aluminium production due to the lower heating temperature The process starts with the sorting and pretreatment of the scrap feedstock according to their quality and characteristics V arious furnace types are available for the melting process including reverberatory and induction furnaces and emerging technologies such as rotary arc and plasma furnaces The choice of furnace depends on the characteristics of the scrap 107 CIES ND 108 ibidem Aluminium Oxide W aste Gases Carbon Anodes Cathode Solid Crust Crust Break er Graphite Lining Molten Cryolite Molten Aluminium Secondary Melting Primary Aluminium 2015 2005 1997 12 7 124 6 7 0 2 10 6 17 4 150 224 225 348 352 51 Indirect Emissions Mt CO eq EU CO intensity power sector t CO MWh Direct emissions Mt CO eq 1997 2005 2015 Dir ec t emissions 126756 12434405 6789653 I ndir ec t emissions 225344 22381929 10608833 3521 34816334 17398486 MET ALS IN A CLIMA TE NEUTRAL EUROPE A 2050 BL UEPRINT 42