YAMAHA TO USE “GREEN ALUMINUM”—A FIRST FOR JAPANESE MOTORCYCLES

Don’t be surprise when future Yamaha dirt bikes, like the YZ450F, come with subframes, main frames and footpeg brackets made from “Green Aluminum.” Don’t worry, the aluminum is the same quality as usual, just the energy to process it is different.

Yamaha has reached an agreement with an aluminum ingot supplier for the procurement of “green aluminum,” and began using it as a raw material for parts in Yamaha motorcycles starting in February 2023. This is the first time for green aluminum to be used in Japanese motorcycles and Yamaha plans to gradually expand its usage in models going forward.

“Green aluminum” is aluminum that is refined using renewable energy sources to emit around 60% less CO2 in its manufacture process compared to traditionally refined aluminum. Of course, the percentage of less emissions by renewable energy depends per manufacturer. Aluminum parts account for 12% to 31% of the total vehicle weight of a motorcycle, so adopting green aluminum is one effective approach for reducing CO₂ emissions from the raw material manufacturing part of a product’s life cycle.

Green aluminum is used alongside recycled aluminum to help lower Yamaha’s CO2 footprint.  Photo: Novelis

Through the development of its engineering and production technologies, Yamaha has actively pushed the use of recycled aluminum, which now comprises some 80% of Yamaha’s aluminum usage. The new introduction of green aluminum is meant to complement this and will be employed for parts that still cannot be manufactured with recycled materials. As a first step, Yamaha will utilize green aluminum for certain parts in its large-displacement street bikes and off-road competition motorcycles (for example on the YZ450F, the subframe, main frame and footpeg brackets will use green aluminum). Yamaha Motor plans to expand the number of models using the material in the future as available supply volumes allow.

Yamaha has made a big push the use of recycled aluminum for approximately 80% of Yamaha’s aluminum usage.

Yamaha has set a goal of switching to 100% sustainable materials by 2050, such as adopting more plant-derived resin materials, developing recyclable polypropylene and adopting green materials and other recycled materials for its motorcycles manufactured in Japan and overseas.

 

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