Aluminum is the material that most people remember when recycling is mentioned. This is due mainly to its properties that allow it to be reused countless times without losing its characteristics.
The material can be recycled from scrap products that no longer have a useful life, or from what is left over from production processes. Soda cans, domestic utensils, door and window frames, components from the manufacture of automobiles and many other items can be reused and employed to obtain new products, without this process implying a loss in the quality of the metal.
With environmental education programs it is possible to stimulate an ecological awareness in people and encourage recycling, thereby favoring a reduction in the garbage they generate. The aluminum industry is committed to protecting the environment, to obeying the law and regulations and to anticipating their demands, by obtaining maximum efficiency in the use of raw materials and eliminating the impacts that may result from the sector's operations.
In addition to minimizing the impact on the environment, recycling helps save energy, because to produce recycled aluminum uses only 5% of the energy necessary to manufacture the primary product.
The recycling of aluminum points to the industry's sustainability in the sector, in its economic, environmental and also social aspects, since it contributes to development and guarantees income in needy areas. Due to its market value, aluminum scrap has become an opportunity for thousands of Brazilian families that take part in everything from collecting the material to its final transformation.
For very kilo of recycled aluminum five kilos of bauxite (the mineral used to produce aluminum) are saved. In 2004 the recycling of 270,000 tons of aluminum generated savings of 1.3 million tons of bauxite. Currently the Brazilian market is responsible for more than US$ 100 million, annually.
According to the Brazilian Aluminum Association (Abal) and the Brazilian Association of Highly Recyclable Cans (Abralatas), Brazil's performance reached the mark of 121,300 tons of recycled aluminum cans in 2004, which corresponds to nearly 9 billion cans in the year (25 million cans per day).
The aluminum recycling process 1 - The aluminum to be recycled is collected (cans, automobile parts, window frames, etc.) 2 - The material is cleaned and transformed into bales (blocks of compacted material) that are taken to the recycling plant 3 - At the plant the bales are broken into smaller pieces 4 - An electromagnetic separator removes ferrous metals that may be mixed in with the aluminum 5 - The material is shredded and a further electro-magnetic separation takes place. It then goes through a vibrating sieve that removes soil, sand and other waste 6 - Using air jets a pneumatic separator separates out paper, plastic and other materials from the aluminum 7 - The pieces of aluminum are stored and placed in a furnace that eliminates the paint and varnish; they are then taken to a smelting furnace 8 - After smelting the pieces are liquid. If necessary the aluminum alloy (aluminum with other metals, generally silicon, copper and magnesium) is corrected by adding the elements that are missing, in order to reach the desired chemical specification 9 - After the chemical composition has been adjusted the material is made into ingots, or even transported in its liquid state to the end-user (foundry).
