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Aluminium carbon footprint primary, recycled and process.

The footprint of an aluminium part depends above all on where the metal comes from, primary or recycled, and on the energy mix of its production. Extrusion or machining, scrap and transport come next. Xain calculates it from drawings and technical sheets and replaces default values with your primary data.

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Aluminium profileA technical drawing of a part that traces itself line by line. Beside it, the three calculation nodes, material, process (including its energy) and transport, light up one by one until the certificate.LHSECTION

How the result is built

  1. Material
  2. Process
  3. Transport
  4. Certificate with a registration number
Schematic illustration. It does not show real data.

By process

Which processes does the calculation cover?

Before any process, the origin of the metal weighs most, primary or recycled. After that, each operation counts separately.

  1. Extruded profile

    Billet, press and treatment energy, and trimmings.

  2. Machining

    The blank, machine energy and chips that are recycled.

  3. Finishes

    Anodising or coating, where applicable.

Aluminium is a material where the generic figure misleads: two identical profiles can have very different footprints depending on where the metal comes from. That is why it pays to calculate with physical factors and origin data.

What weighs most in aluminium’s footprint?

The origin of the metal: producing it from ore (primary) takes a lot of electricity, and its footprint depends on the source of that electricity; remelting recycled aluminium needs far less energy. Then come extrusion or machining, the scrap generated and transport.

How does this relate to CBAM?

Aluminium is one of the goods covered by the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which affects whoever imports into the EU. A part’s footprint does not replace the declaration CBAM requires, but having origin and process data makes it easier to respond. More in the glossary: CBAM.

How do you request it?

With the drawing or technical sheet and, if you have them, your plant’s consumption figures. Xain adapts the calculation to the available data: without detail it uses average physical factors in line with ISO 14067; with process data (recycled content, energy origin, etc.) it incorporates them and the result is more precise. It returns a certificate with the breakdown per node so you can review it.

Frequently asked questions

What companies usually ask before getting started.

Why does it matter whether aluminium is primary or recycled?

Because producing primary aluminium uses far more energy than remelting recycled aluminium, and that difference dominates the result. Evidencing recycled content changes the part's footprint.

What plant data can be used?

Energy consumption and its source, scrap percentage and where it goes, and the recycled content of the raw material if the supplier evidences it.

  • Manufacturing

    How to calculate the footprint of industrial parts and products: material, process (including its energy) and transport, from documents you already have.

  • CBAM

    CBAM is the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which links the import of certain carbon-intensive goods to their embedded emissions.

  • Product footprint

    Certify your product’s carbon footprint with an ISO 14067 method verified by LRQA, from your technical documentation, with registration and traceability.

Tell us what you want to measure

One product, a catalogue or your purchases. We reply with the next steps.

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