R is for Recyclability

Since the 1880s aluminium has been recycled many times over. In fact 75% of its production since then is still in use today. An estimated 150 million tonnes of aluminium is in use across the globe in anything from aircraft to facades to soda cans – this bank of material is stored for use by countless generations to come.

The aluminium economy is therefore a circular economy. For aluminium building products the metal is not actually consumed during the product's lifetime, but simply used with the potential to be used again through recycling. Aluminium can be recycled again and again without any loss of its inherent properties, since its atomic structure is not altered during melting. Therefore, the life cycle of an aluminium product is not the traditional ‘cradle-to-grave’ sequence, but rather a renewable ‘cradle-to-cradle’.

Aluminium scrap has considerable market value because most of the energy required for the production of primary aluminium is embodied in the metal itself and therefore in the scrap. In fact the metal, which is up to 100% recyclable, takes only 5% of its original production energy in order to be recycled, with no loss of strength or integrity.

Specifying aluminium in any project ensures that at the end of its useful life it will have a value and across Europe an average of 95% of the material is being recycled.

The Council for Aluminium in Building actively supports the work of the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) which is at the forefront of communicating the continuous improvements which are being made in both prime material production and the increasing recovery and recycling rates from all uses of aluminium.

For more information on the International Aluminium Institute, go to its website at www.world-aluminium.org, for more information on CAB’s activities in the construction industry contact the CAB office on 01453 828851 or email justin.ratcliffe@c-a-b.org.uk.