The United States focuses on enhancing domestic production capacity, investing in recycling infrastructure, and regulating imports through tariffs in its policies on recycled aluminum. Below are the latest developments:

Tariffs and Trade Policies

2025 New Tariffs:

Effective March 12, 2025, the U.S. will impose a 25% ad valorem tariff on aluminum products (including recycled aluminum) from the EU, UK, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and Australia, revoking previous exemptions for these countries. This move aims to protect the domestic aluminum industry but may increase supply chain costs.

Impact:

While recycled aluminum is generally exempt from the new tariffs, market participants expect rising primary aluminum prices to indirectly push up recycled aluminum costs.

Background:

In 2024, U.S. aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico were 18% and 35% higher, respectively, than the 2015-2017 average, prompting policy adjustments to address surging imports.

Recycling Infrastructure & Policy Support

Investments & Legislation:

Over the past decade, the U.S. aluminum industry has invested more than $10 billion in expanding domestic production capacity, with recycled aluminum now accounting for over 80% of U.S. aluminum output.

Legislative Initiatives:

The Aluminum Association and Can Manufacturers Association are advocating for the ‘Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act’ and the ‘Recycling and Composting Accountability Act’ to improve recycling systems and raise the aluminum can recycling rate (43% in 2023, below the historical average of 52%). The goal is to achieve a 70% recycling rate by 2030.

Consumer Incentives:

Policies such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and "bottle bills" (deposit refund systems) are being promoted to boost consumer participation in recycling and reduce the estimated $800 million worth of aluminum sent to landfills annually.

Environmental & Economic Benefits

Recycled aluminum production consumes only 5% of the energy required for primary aluminum, saving approximately 90 million barrels of oil equivalent per year.

The Aluminum Association highlights that a 1% increase in the recycling rate significantly reduces the carbon intensity of can production (by 1.02 kg CO₂ equivalent per 1,000 cans).

However, domestic smelting capacity remains insufficient to meet demand, and the 2024 closure of a major Missouri smelter has further strained supply.

Challenges

The U.S. aluminum can recycling rate dropped to 43% in 2023, far below Europe’s 76.3%.

The lack of a national unified recycling policy and inadequate infrastructure are major obstacles.

9% of the U.S. population lacks access to aluminum can recycling programs, and up to 25% of cans are lost during sorting processes.