BRAZILIAN ALUMINUM - solutions for sustainable living

BRAZILIAN ALUMINUM SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING 31 ALUMINUM AND SUSTAINABLE LIVING SOLUTIONS 4.2. Aluminum: versatility for sustainability Aluminum availability is quite recent in history. For millenniums, mankind used to be familiar with gold, silver, copper, iron and glass, when the aluminum economic production process then started in 1886. Despite being present at the rate of 8% in the Earth’s crust, the reason for its late appearance is that that metal has a great affinity for oxygen, to which it binds in a very strong combination. The amount of energy required to segregate aluminum from oxygen posed the greatest hardship to isolate the metal. In 1886, Charles Martin Hall in the United States and Paul Heroult in France simultaneously devised the electrolytic process for obtaining molten aluminum metal. Little more than a decade later, the Austrian Carl Joseph Bayer carried out the chemical process that gets the alumina from bauxite. Those two breakthroughs were the cornerstone for the birth of the aluminum industry and its foundations, which are still in use today, with technological enhancements seen in modern refineries and smelters around the world. Once it is produced, aluminum acts as a real bank of energy for future generations, and it can be infinitely recycled with about 5% of the energy needed to produce it in the first place. Aluminum embodies a long list of intrinsic properties: it is lightweight, corrosion resistant, highly conductive and reflective, non-toxic, durable and recyclable. Using different processing methods and alloys, aluminum takes the desired shape, strength, and density. Casting, rolling, forging and extruding processes provide designers and manufacturers with uncountable solutions. Aesthetically, it is a metal that enables alluring solutions for facades andmanufacturing of bold-design pieces of art or utensils. Over and above, the products using aluminum contribute to lowering transport costs, energy and greenhouse gas emissions. Aluminum allows solutions that help transport, packaging and buildings become more sustainable. Learning about and quantifying its benefits will enable that the industry plays a top position in the future and the society find the answers to meet the UN’s approved Sustainable Development Goals.