Page 7 - Altogether Magazine Q1_2017 English

MAGAZINE
Aluminium Today:
Strong and Sustainable
As such, in the 20th and 21st
centuries, the metal in most
aluminium products is not actually
consumed during the product’s
lifecycle. For example, aluminium
cans are simply used as carriers
for mass-produced drinks. As such,
the metal has the potential to be
recycled without losing any of its
chemical properties. It is due to
this factor that aluminium is a
sustainable metal with a lifecycle
that scientists dub “cradle-to-
cradle”, instead of the traditional
“cradle-to-grave”.
Aluminium’s unique trait of infinite
recyclability has led to a situation
where today, around 75% of almost
1 billion tonnes of aluminium is
still in productive use, some having
been through countless loops of its
lifecycle – how miraculous!
Furthermore, aluminium also
improves the efficiency of energy
use. It presents great potential for
increasing the sustainable use of
energy. For example, aluminum’s
light weight contributes to
increased fuel efficiency in vehicles,
ranging from passenger cars to
armored tanks. The metal’s 95%
light-reflectivity contributes
cooling efficiencies to “green”
buildings and improves the energy
FEATURE STORIES
production efficiency of solar
cells. The aluminum industry is
making continuous improvements
in the environmental efficiency
of producing aluminum through
primary and secondary processes.
Overall, when compared to other
metals like iron, aluminium recycling
rates are rather impressive! The
International Aluminium Institute
(IAI) reports that aluminium used
in building and transportation
have an end-of-life recycling rate
of approximately 90 percent. In
Europe, 60 percent of packaging
such as beverage cans are recycled,
while other forms of aluminium use
is recycled about 50 percent of the
time.
Most times, recycling aluminium is
economically and environmentally
beneficial as it can be recycled an
infinite number of times with no
loss of quality.
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