“America needs aluminum. As demand for this essential material continues to grow, we need common sense permitting reform to ensure that we can responsibly build out American both primary and recycled aluminum production. The bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act represents an important opportunity to modernize our outdated permitting system, accelerate critical energy and infrastructure projects, and provide the certainty businesses need to invest in America.

We applaud Senators Lee, Heinrich, Capito and Whitehouse for their leadership in advancing this commonsense legislation. Through our “America Needs Aluminum” campaign, we've made clear that meeting our nation's growing demand for aluminum requires an all-of-the-above approach — expanding domestic primary production, investing in recycling and strengthening our energy infrastructure. Congress must seize this bipartisan opportunity and enact meaningful permitting reform in this Congress. America cannot afford to wait.”

In September, the Aluminum Association launched “America Needs Aluminum,” a new public awareness and advocacy campaign highlighting aluminum’s essential role in the U.S. economy and calling for policies that help America make, recycle and build more with this critical material.

With global aluminum demand projected to grow roughly 80% by 2050, the United States currently produces less than 20% of the primary aluminum it uses each year. Meeting that demand domestically would require building 5 to 6 new greenfield aluminum smelters. At the same time, recycled aluminum is a growing part of the domestic supply picture, accounting for around 85% of American aluminum production today. The U.S. aluminum industry has invested more than $11 billion – largely in mid-and-downstream production and recycling – over the past decade.

Learn more at www.AmericaNeedsAluminum.com.