•The aluminium industry is highly energy intensive, has significant environmental impact and release a large proportion of energy as waste heat.•The production energy required, energy losses and energy content of the waste heat is quantified.•The environmental impact of each aluminium production stage is described with focus on the refining, primary and secondary industries.•Equipment used within each process step with potential for waste heat recovery is described.•Waste heat can be reused utilising heat recovery technologies to reduce energy consumption among other benefits. Aluminium is becoming more frequently used across industries due to its beneficial properties, generally within an alloyed form. This paper outlines the entire production process of aluminium from ore to the finished metallic alloy product. In addition, the article looks at the current state of the art technologies used in each discrete process step. Particular interest is directed towards casting technologies and secondary recycling as the relative proportion of recycled aluminium is increasing dramatically and aluminium is much more energy efficient to recycle than to produce through primary methods. Future developments within the industries are discussed, in particular inert anode technology. Aluminium production is responsible for a large environmental impact and the gaseous emissions and solid residue by-products are discussed. In addition to the environmental impact, the industry is highly energy intensive and releases a large proportion of energy to atmosphere in the form of waste heat. One method of reducing energy consumption and decreasing the environmental impact of emissions is by installing waste heat recovery technology. Applied methods to reduce energy consumption are examined, with a latter focus on potential applications within the industry for waste heat recovery technologies.