Environmental Product Declarations

Aluminum Industry Environmental Product Declarations

The North American (United States and Canada) aluminum industry is committed to sustainability and making continuous improvements in the environmental efficiency and impacts of aluminum. To meet this goal, the Aluminum Association released third-party validated Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for various types of aluminum products.

The industry has developed EPDs on:

• Hot-Rolled Aluminum: Aluminum sheet and plate rolled at a high temperature. Plate and thicker-gauge sheet may be used for structural applications including aircraft and aerospace.
• Cold-Rolled Aluminum: Previously hot-rolled sheet subsequently rolled at or near room temperature to make the metal thinner and stronger. Often used to make building roofs and wall plates, sheet for transportation applications and packaging material.  
• Extruded Aluminum: Aluminum that is fed through a hydraulic press to make a particular shape. Often used to make building windows, doors, curtain walls, automotive parts, as well as various consumer durable products. 
• Primary Ingot: Raw material produced directly from bauxite and used to make casted, rolled or extruded aluminum.
• Secondary Ingot: Raw material produced from recycled aluminum and used to make casted, rolled or extruded aluminum.

To download individual Aluminum Industry Environmental Product Declarations, click on the name of the EPD above. Click here to download all five  Aluminum Industry Environmental Product Declarations.

What is an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)

An EPD is a comprehensive, internationally harmonized report that describes the potential environmental impact of a particular product through its life cycle. EPDs are now being used to help earn LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)® credit points for green building certification under LEED® V4. EPDs are not indicative that environmental benchmarks were met, nor do they rank products.  It is a transparent and verified disclosure of product’s environmental profiles similar to a “nutrition label."

Third-Party Validation

The Aluminum Association partnered with thinkstep AG to develop EPDs for five representative aluminum products. The EPD reports are based on industry-wide survey data and represent an average production inputs across all aluminum-making in the United States and Canada. The report was developed in accordance with ISO 14025 reporting standards.  The EPDs were certified by UL Environment.

How to Use the Aluminum Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

The EPDs provide summarized information on major aspects of a product’s potential environmental impact such as energy use, global warming and acidification. The declarations enable end users of aluminum – from architects to transportation firms to consumer products companies – to make informed choices about using the metal.