Global Aluminum Mining and Processing: Environmental and Social Impacts
Review of publicly available academic, industry, and NGO research as well as first-hand personal accounts of the impacts of aluminum mining and processing.
Summary:
- Because of aluminum’s affinity for oxygen, it was only isolated as an element in 1825
- Aluminum is a highly versatile material used in virtually all segments of the economy
- Bauxite ore is the primary source of aluminum and is very near the surface and thus easily mined relative to other ores
- But red mud, a caustic output from initial processing of bauxite into alumna, is one of the most abundant industrial wastes on the planet
- Aluminum dross and spent pot linings are other wastes produced by the aluminum production process
- In addition, aluminum is one of the most carbon-intensive industrial metals to produce
- While aluminum has high recycling rates, over time the recycling tends to be downcycling, because of trace elements that cannot be cost/energy-effectively removed
- Having said that, recycling aluminum represents one of the highest energy savings for any metal (some estimates are as low as 5% of the initial energy requirements)