Recycling aluminum is essential to mitigate the ecological footprint of production and consumption in a world that must necessarily look to a green future. In fact, aluminum is 100% recyclable over and over again.
Aluminum is 100% recyclable, countless times, and this is a significant plus for Italy which is historically poor in raw materials. Our country, in fact, is in third place among those that use recycled material the most after the United States and Japan.
Recycling aluminum is worthwhile, also because the recycled material has the same characteristics as the original one. Developing technologies for the recovery of aluminum was a far-sighted strategy and this material is today an example of a circular economy, that is, a system capable of regenerating itself without impacting the environment, unlike the linear economy, that of "produce - consume - throw away ". The latter system is the child of the illusion of having at hand raw materials and energy in unlimited quantities and at low cost, as well as the myopia of not considering the environmental impact of mass production and consumption. It is now clear to everyone: we can no longer afford a linear economy, we must move towards a world where we recycle, use less energy and water and emit less CO2 into the atmosphere. This awareness has inspired the right approach to research, stimulating it to develop technologies to recycle as much as possible using the smallest amount of energy.
Recycling is a good idea not only because the recycled metal has nothing to envy to the original, but also because the production of 1 kg of recycled aluminum has an energy requirement that is equivalent to only 5% of that of 1 kg of produced metal, starting from the mineral, with a consequent reduction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. In addition, less water is also used compared to production from the mineral.
The convenience of recycled aluminum makes it an ideal material for many uses. Among the sectors that use it most are the automotive industry, construction, the production of housewares and packaging. To give a few examples, about 40% of the aluminum used to produce an entire car is recycled, a share that rises to 90% in the case of rims. In Italy, 90% of the pots are made from recycled aluminum, as are 100% of the coffee pots.
