ASI supports Ghana’s vision for a responsible circular aluminium industry

30 July 2026

Ghana is working to unlock more of the value of its bauxite resources through the development of an integrated aluminium industry spanning mining, refining, smelting and downstream manufacturing. By building more of the aluminium value chain domestically, the country aims to move beyond raw material exports and support industrialisation, job creation and long-term economic growth.

Recognising the important role that circularity can play in achieving this vision, the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) partnered with ASI to host a stakeholder webinar exploring circular economy opportunities within Ghana’s aluminium sector.

The webinar brought together representatives from government, industry, recyclers, scrap dealers and other downstream aluminium-sector participants to discuss how circular economy approaches could strengthen Ghana’s growing aluminium industry. The discussion focused on recycling, scrap recovery, traceability and local value addition, as well as the systems and capabilities needed to support a more transparent, responsible and inclusive downstream sector.

As the webinar’s featured speaker, ASI Circularity Research Manager, Dr. Gabriel Carmona Aparicio shared ASI’s broader perspective on responsible circularity across the aluminium value chain. Drawing on ASI’s Performance Standard, its wider circularity work and experience through the Collective Action for Recycling and Empowerment (CARE) Project, he explored how circular economy approaches can strengthen environmental, social and economic outcomes while supporting responsible production.

Gabriel emphasised that a credible circular aluminium system is about more than increasing recycling volumes. It must consider where scrap originates, who collects, buys, transports, sorts and sells it, how value is distributed, whether environmental, health and safety risks are managed, and how traceability can be strengthened without excluding (or creating barriers for) the smaller operators who already recover much of the material.

He also highlighted the importance of the “circular first mile”: the people, businesses and organisations that recover, aggregate and move scrap through the value chain. ASI’s CARE Project demonstrates how improved traceability can go hand in hand with recognising these actors and the economic and operational realities in which they work.

This was reflected in contributions from Ghanaian scrap-sector representatives, who emphasised that many operators do far more than collect discarded material. They purchase and transport scrap, sort different grades, manage price risk and sell material onward. Any effort to formalise the sector will therefore need to reflect local market structures and avoid excluding the smaller operators already responsible for much of the country’s material recovery.

Capacity building emerged as another key theme. Participants discussed how practical support can help operators improve aluminium recovery, sorting and quality control, while also strengthening environmental management, occupational health and safety, ESG performance and business capability. Such support should be viewed as an enabling measure rather than simply a compliance requirement, helping smaller scrap dealers, recyclers, aggregators and fabricators participate in more formalised and traceable supply chains as market expectations evolve.

A particularly significant area of discussion was how Ghana’s downstream aluminium sector could progressively align with internationally recognised responsible production practices. GIADEC outlined the concept of an Aluminium Stewardship Certification Pathway, through which awareness raising, ESG assessments and capacity building could help prepare operators for future ASI Certification. Such an approach would give companies a clearer understanding of certification requirements while strengthening market access, credibility and investor confidence as the sector develops.

GIADEC also outlined several complementary initiatives to support the sector’s development, including stronger inter-agency coordination, the creation of a downstream industry database and stakeholder platform, supportive regulation, and the development of an ESG maturity model that recognises different starting points and provides a practical pathway towards stewardship leadership.

Through its Standards System, circularity programmes such as the CARE Project and its experience convening stakeholders across the aluminium value chain, ASI is helping civil society organisations, industry and recyclers translate circular economy ambitions into practical action. Rather than promoting a one-size-fits-all model, ASI contributes internationally recognised frameworks, practical tools and responsible sourcing expertise that can be adapted to local industrial, social and market contexts.

The webinar demonstrated how responsible circularity can support Ghana’s ambition to build an integrated aluminium industry that delivers long-term economic value alongside environmental and social benefits. It also highlighted the growing role ASI can play in supporting countries and industries as they develop circular aluminium value chains aligned with international good practice.

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