10 Million SqFt of Ice

The Journal of Science published a paper today quantifying the link between CO2 emissions and disappearing arctic sea ice. They calculate that the average American destroys about 650 square feet of arctic sea ice every year based on the average amount of CO2 we emit. They found that for every metric ton of CO2 emitted, 32 sqft of sea ice have disappeared. We thought it'd be fun to flip this calculation around to see how many sq ft of sea ice aluminum recycling at Spectro Alloys "saves" every year.

The Aluminum Association and the EPA have both quantified the benefits of recycled aluminum compared to making new primary aluminum. We have used those numbers to show the positive impact of recycling here at Spectro Alloys. Our recycling efforts at Spectro save over 325,000 tons of CO2 from being generated each year.  Using the Journal of Science numbers, we can estimate the impact on arctic ice:

Aluminum recycling at Spectro Alloys saves over 10 Million square feet of arctic sea ice every year. That also equates to:

• About 1 square kilometer of ice
•  Or .4 square miles
•  Or 611 NHL sized hockey rinks

To clarify, the real "savings" happens when our customers choose recycled material instead of primary aluminum. And that can happen because there are also economic benefits to using recycled vs primary aluminum, even on high purity alloys like A356.1. With advanced sorting and the ability to produce Custom Clean Charge scrap, Spectro Alloys offers the widest range of environmentally friendly aluminum options in the industry.