Applied Ecology and Environmental Research | 2019
QUANTIFYING ALUMINUM SCRAP GENERATION FROM SEVEN END-USE SECTORS TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA
Abstract
Nowadays, the domestic mineral resources are short, and the ecological environment is becoming worse and worse. Besides, the trade protectionism is on the rise, and the international trade environment is uncertain and unsafe. This paper simulates the potential old scrap generated from actual aluminum products consumption of seven end-use sectors during 1996-2017 on the basis of Weibull distribution. The object is to facilitate the exploitation and cyclic utilization of old scrap and “urban mines”. During this period, the building and construction (B&C) and transportation (T) sectors are still the most and second consumers, accounting for 30% and 17% of the total consumption. Most aluminum products haven’t entered into the scrapping stage yet, and only one fifth of consumed aluminum (about 52 Mt) became old scrap. In the in-use reservoir, B&C and T sectors take up about 60% due to their longer lifetime intervals. If the potential old scrap will be recycled efficiently, then the secondary aluminum produced by the scrap can meet around nine years’ consumption demands at current consumption level. Therefore, the cyclic utilization of old scrap prompts resources saving, energy conservation, emission reduction and may remove the impacts of international trade instability.