Recycled Or Secondary Aluminium

Aluminium is relatively unique in being highly economic to recycle. Aluminium recycling is the process by which scrap aluminium can be reused in products after its initial production

Metal can be reclaimed and refined for further use at an energy cost of only 5 per cent of that required to produce the same quantity of aluminium from its ore.

There has been a healthy secondary metal industry for many years and as refining techniques improve the use that can be made of reclaimed aluminium will increase.

GAL recycling process

✔ In the USA, of the(out of)one million tonnes of aluminium sheet used annually for beer and beverage cans, over 50% is supplied from used can scrap.

✔ Approximately 31% of all aluminium produced in the United States comes from recycled scrap. Used beverage containers are the largest component of processed aluminium scrap(seems repeated)

✔ Europe is now following this example with the(by) building of dedicated aluminium can recycling plants.

✔ Recycled aluminium usage in Europe is 40% of all metal currently processed.

Process for recycled aluminium

The process involves simply re-melting the metal, which is far less expensive and energy intensive than creating new aluminium through the electrolysis of aluminium oxide (Al2O3), which must first be mined from bauxite ore and then refined using the Bayer process.

Sources for recycled aluminium

Sources can be aircraft, automobiles, bicycles, boats, computers, cookware, gutters, siding, wire, and many other products that need a strong light weight material, or a material with high thermal conductivity. As recycling does not damage the metal's structure, aluminium can be recycled indefinitely and still be used to produce any product for which new aluminium could have been used.