Aluminium cycling in India
Student name: Ms Deepa Maggo
Guide: Dr Suresh Jain
Year of completion: 2010
Host Organisation: Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale University
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Prof Thomas E. Graedel
Abstract: An MFA (Material Flow Analysis) characterizes and quantifies the flow of specific metals through its different life-stages. An MFA was carried out by applying mass balances approach to analyse the flows of aluminium metal in India for the year 2007. A few reasonable assumptions were incorporated based on an estimation of the deviation of India’s position relative to the global picture. A circular diagram was used to depict the connections between different processes and flows of the metal between them. The key findings were: Export of the metal largely governs the production stage of the aluminium life-cycle in India while large imports dominate the manufacturing and use stage. A considerable portion of the metal goes into non-aluminium making uses in the country and this share is found to have increased over the time. In the fabrication stage, primary aluminium mainly enters the hot and cold deformation processes, while secondary (or recycled) aluminium is almost exclusively used to produce castings and forgings. In the use phase, electrical and electronics sector consumes most of the metal in the country as against transport sector which is the major metal consumer in the global scenario. The downstream part of the cycle in India is characterized by an import of large quantity of aluminium-containing scrap, which is put back into fabrication following a recycling of the metal. The country is diverting a large part of its environmental burden by exporting the metal in production stage while importing manufactured aluminium containing parts and products. Technological and policy level changes can be suggested based on the study of the flows aimed at bringing sustainability to the cycle on the whole.
Keywords: Material Flow Analysis; Mass balances approach; System boundary; Semi-fabricated products; Post-manufacturing trade flows
