Recycling aluminum
No other material offers the versatility and environmental benefits of aluminum.
Aluminum is infinitely recyclable making it the material of choice for balancing the demand of an economy increasingly the need to preserve the environment.
Since the first industrial production of aluminum in the 1880s, 75 of all the material produced is still in use today.
Aluminum recycling allows for significant energy savings in several areas.
Recycling aluminum requires 95 less energy and produces 95 fewer GHG greenhouse gas emissions, the production of primary aluminum which is a gain of GHG equivalent to taking 900,000 cars off the road for 12 months .
Today, the global industry Aluminum Recycling prevents nearly 170 million tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the environment each year.
Recycling 1 ton of aluminum avoids the emission of about 9 tons of CO2 emissions to just 1 tonne of CO2 equivalent to driving about 3000 miles.
aluminum Recycling reduces the use of natural resources and chemicals sodium hydroxide, aluminum fluoride and lime and eliminates the need of bauxite ore to be extracted.
The aluminum beverage can is the most recycled packaging container in the world.
Eight billion aluminum cans sold in the UK every year, and each could be recycled and again, saving energy, raw materials and waste.
A used aluminum beverage can can be recycled, reprocessed, rebuilt and ready for resale approximately 60 days.
In one year, which can be recycled eight times, enough energy for 160 new boxes.
Making an aluminum beverage can from raw materials uses the same amount of energy it takes to recycle 20 And if you really want to put it in a daily context recycling just one aluminum beverage can saves enough energy to power a TV for three hours.
Globally, nearly 70 of all aluminum beverage cans are recycled, making because aluminum is recyclable in most recycled packaging infinite world product, it can be reused in a wide applications different from its previous target, and it can also be reformulated in its original form.
These properties make aluminum an ideal material for use in high-end applications, even after being repeatedly recycled For example, a 50-year-old building facade can be recycled into aluminum needed for the engine block a new car without quality degradation.
Nearly 90 beverage cans sold in the UK are aluminum and the current recycling rate in 2011 for beverage cans is at 55 so there is still a lot out there to collect and recycle.
Take a look at our iBrochure for a little more information on recycling with Novelis.
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