Earth Day: Aluminum is still one of the most recyclable metals out there

Earth Day’s a good time to take a step back and look at the real-world materials that make sustainability work. In our industry, aluminum’s story stands out. It’s one of the only materials that can be recycled over and over without losing quality. And it’s not just talk: about 75% of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today. That’s not greenwashing. That’s just math.

When people think of recycling, they picture cans – and that’s fair. A used beverage can (UBC) can go from a recycling bin back to the shelf in about 60 days. But the metal’s reach is way bigger than that. Auto, aerospace, and construction are all using more aluminum, and a lot of that demand is being met with scrap.

We’ve come a long way. Back in the ’70s, when Earth Day was first gaining steam, aluminum was still more of a luxury metal. Energy costs to produce it were sky-high, and global demand wasn’t anything close to where it is now. But technology and trade shifted that, and now secondary production is growing fast, especially in North America.

Secondary production means melting down used aluminum (like cans, car parts, or factory scrap) to make new aluminum products. It takes way less energy – up to 95% less – than traditional production from primary process.

Some producers are doubling down on this shift. Take Spectro Alloys in Minnesota. They run entirely on recycled aluminum and recently invested over $70 million to expand operations and add a new remelt furnace. That’s 100% secondary production, powered by local scrap and built to serve markets like casting and automotive. Companies like this are proving that sustainable aluminum doesn’t have to come from overseas. It can be homegrown, efficient, and good for business, not to mention the U.S.

In the U.S., nearly half of the aluminum supply is already coming from recycled material. And we’re seeing more automakers lean into closed-loop systems, cutting out middlemen and keeping scrap in-house.

Is it perfect? No. The U.S. had historically exported a chunk of its scrap instead of using it here. And infrastructure could use some upgrades. But aluminum has one of the cleanest, most circular stories in the metals world.

So yeah, on Earth Day, it’s worth recognizing that aluminum isn’t just shiny, it’s sustainable. And the industry’s only getting smarter about how to keep it that way.