Aluminum -- Friend or Foe?
- Viroqua Plastic Free
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Aluminum is one of the most recycled and recyclable materials in use today. An aluminum beverage can is able to be recycled and returned to the grocer’s shelf in as little as 60 days. While aluminum cans are the most frequently recycled aluminum item, siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames and lawn furniture can also be recycled.
Aluminum is one of the few materials that requires less energy to recycle than it does to manufacture new. Unlike plastic, which quickly degrades to the point that it is no longer recyclable, aluminum can be recycled infinitely without a loss of quality. Approximately 75% of all the aluminum ever produced is still in use today.
But be sure to drop off your accumulated cans at your favorite community collection site or recycling center. Aluminum cans that end up in the environment or the landfill will still be recognizable as cans 500 years from now.
The importance of recycling aluminum cannot be overstated because mining it is damaging to the environment. Although aluminum is the most abundant metal on the planet, it is never found free in nature. Rather it is found in an ore called bauxite and is mostly mined in Australia, China, Guinea, and Brazil. Bauxite deposits and mines are often located in tropical forests or near protected areas which are home to important ecosystems.
Open-pit mining requires the removal of topsoil and vegetation and destroys the existing habitat. The industry pledges a leadership role in conservation efforts and stores the topsoil so it can be replaced during rehabilitation. According to The Aluminum Association, “When the ore is mined in forested areas, an average of 80 percent of the land is returned to its native ecosystem.”
One of the world’s largest bauxite mining operations is in a Jarrah forest in Western Australia. Alcoa has been mining there since the 1960s. Although a rehabilitation plan is in place, it was formulated when the mining first began and is not in compliance with the Environmental Regulations Department’s 2022 rehabilitation guidelines. According to Professor Kingsley Dixon, a John Curtin Distinguished Professor and Director of the ARC Centre for Mine Site Restoration, “The removal of the bauxite layer robs that forest of the primary material on which the Jarrah forest depends.” Similar environmental concerns have been expressed for a large mining operation on the Arama Plateau in Brazil. Many older bauxite mines have simply been abandoned without any type of rehabilitation.
In our daily lives, we are constantly exposed to aluminum. In addition to beverage cans, aluminum is used in anti-perspirants, cosmetics, sunscreens, toothpaste, cookware, baking powder, food packaging, food additives, pesticides, vaccines, medicines, and medical devices. Scientists do not have a complete understanding of the impact of accumulated aluminum on the human body although it is considered a risk factor in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, and for kidney disease and cancer. We can all reduce our exposure by choosing products that do not contain aluminum.
Is aluminum a recycling superstar, an environmental concern, a potential health toxin or all three? Friend or foe?
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