Environmental Impact Analysis of Primary and Secondary Aluminum Foam Components

The production of aluminum is a significant contributor to global warming, with primary aluminum processes accounting for over 90% of these emissions. As the demand for aluminum continues to rise, it is imperative to explore sustainable production methods to reduce environmental impacts. This article presents an ecological assessment of semi-finished products, known as aluminum foam sandwiches, used in the production of tool carriages. Aluminum foam, characterized by its porous structure achieved through gas addition during production, offers a significantly lower density compared to solid aluminum while maintaining mechanical robustness. This study compares two production systems: one using aluminum powder from primary material and the other utilizing aluminum chips from secondary material. The system boundary includes the manufacturing process from cradle to gate. The environmental impacts of both product systems are analyzed quantitatively, revealing that the aluminum foam sandwiches produced from recycled aluminum exhibit a considerable average reduction of 20.9% in environmental impacts across all assessed categories. In the climate change category, the production using aluminum chips results in a reduction of 13.1% compared to the powder option. Human toxicity (carcinogenic) showed the highest reduction at 40.0%, while ozone depletion had the smallest reduction at 7.1%. The findings highlight processes with high environmental influence, providing approaches for optimizing the environmental impact of aluminum foam. Additionally, the study examines the influence of different system models on the results, contributing to the existing literature on sustainable aluminum production by demonstrating the importance of material sourcing and methodological choices in Life Cycle Assessment.