What is aluminium?
What is aluminium?
Aluminium, the lightweight among metals, is a chemical element with excellent properties. It is corrosion-resistant and non-magnetic and its colour varies from silver to white. Aluminium is the most common metal on Earth, even ahead of iron, its third most abundant element, and is found in the Earth’s crust – though not in its pure form. It has to be extracted from bauxite using an energy-intensive production process. Its specific weight makes it a light metal with good stability. Aluminium is more corrosion-resistant than iron and therefore requires fewer environmentally harmful measures to protect it from corrosion.
Where is aluminium used?
Aluminium is often used as a structural material in industry. Lightweight designs using aluminium materials enable weight savings to be made in moving parts and machinery. This, in turn, results in significantly reduced emissions. Around the home, aluminium is often found in packing materials like cans or tubes. As a lightweight metal, it is also used in smartphones and laptops.
- Aluminium wheel rims, radiators
- Aluminium offset plates
- Aluminium cables
- Aluminium castings
- Aluminium sheeting
- Aluminium profiles
- Aluminium twitch
- Aluminium swarf from production waste
- Aluminium cans, tubes and foil
Recycling aluminium
Recycling aluminium
A big advantage is aluminium’s excellent recyclability. The purer the supplied raw material, the easier it is to recover this lightweight metal.
