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"This report presents results of an investigation of the global flow of materials related to the production and use of aluminum in 2006 and makes projections to 2025. The report was prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Environmental Policy Committee's Working Group on Waste Prevention and Recycling. The report addresses the major resource flows and effects of those flows and provides insights on the life cycle of aluminum; it does not address policy issues related to the production and use of aluminum. The report describes the flow of aluminum for 2006 at a macro level (country and global scales) based mainly on production data for bauxite, alumina, and aluminum gathered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Compared with findings from previous studies, this report estimates a similar level for the flow of primary aluminum (aluminum made from bauxite). The flow of secondary aluminum (aluminum made from fabrication and post-consumer scrap), however, is lower than that estimated by previous studies; this discrepancy should be further investigated. The report also describes flows of materials associated with the production of primary and secondary aluminum at the micro level. These materials include both major inputs to bauxite, alumina, and aluminum production and outputs from that production. Outputs of significant environmental concern include red mud that is produced as a result of the production of alumina from bauxite, and greenhouse gases (including CO2 from electricity generation and perfluorocarbons that are produced during electrolysis) that are produced as a result of the smelting of alumina to produce aluminum. The consumption of aluminum by end-use category in high-income countries compared with that in low- to middle-income countries is analyzed. The leading use of aluminum in many high-income countries is to produce goods in the transportation sector. In low- to middle-income countries, aluminum is used mainly in the production of electrical systems and by the construction industry. Differences in the end uses of aluminum by income have important implications for the recovery of post-consumer scrap because the in-service life of electrical systems and construction uses is much longer than that of many transportation uses. The report investigates the end uses of aluminum by the transportation sector in some detail. In particular, the report examines the use of aluminum in the manufacture of automobiles and commercial aircraft. Production of these goods generates different amounts of fabrication scrap and the goods have different in-service periods, which are two factors that are important to recovery of aluminum scrap."--Excerpted from Executive summary, p. 1.