Aluminium
Aluminium is a metal which is fundamental in the industrial technology age, with its wide range of
possible uses in industry, building, aerospace, electronics, packaging industry. Many objects of
extraordinary beauty and used every day are manufactured with this material: bicycles, cars,
aircrafts and trains, cans, spray cans, caps, doors, windows and roofs, design and furniture
objects.
Aluminium is…
Abundant: it is one of the most widespread elements in nature, it is the third most abundant
element after oxygen and silicon; bauxite, the main mineral from which it derives, represents
approximately 8% of the earth surface
light: for an equal volume, it weights approximately 1/3 of copper and steel
corrosion-resistant: it immediately oxidizes when in contact with air, creating a superficial
protective layer which makes it resistant to water and to some chemical substances
ductile and malleable: it can be easily worked and it is suitable to be subject to working
processes both at high and low temperatures
a good electric conductor: it allows energy transmission even on long distances, this is why most
high-voltage conductors are made of aluminium, but the threaded cap of a light bulb is in
aluminium as well
a perfect heat conductor: it has a high heat conductivity and for this reason it is used for the
manufacturing of radiators and thermic containers, thermo-conditioning equipments and containers
for food cooking
a sound conductor: it has a high acoustic resonance and for this reason it is used in the
manufacturing of instruments as the violin, the piano…
reflecting: it spreads and reflects light reducing the brightness leakage from the light source and
thus favouring energy saving
non-magnetic: this feature allows the use of aluminium for the manufacturing of radio, radar and
stereo equipments
recyclable: it can be 100% recycled, without loosing its original characteristics
THANKS TO ALL ITS CHARACTERISTICS, ALUMINIUM IS
THE IDEAL PARTNER FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PACKAGING.
Aluminium recycling
Aluminium has characteristics that are perfectly suitable for recycling: it is a material that can be
used endlessly to generate every time new products.
Approximately 48% of the aluminium currently in circulation derives from the recycling of aluminium
products already used. The aluminium obtained through recycling (secondary aluminium) doesn’t
have any difference from the one obtained from the mineral since the essential features of the
metal remain unaltered.
Aluminium recycling brings many benefits both for consumers and for the industry in terms of:

energy: aluminium recycling allows to save as much as 95% of the energy which is necessary
to produce aluminium from the raw material;

material: aluminium packaging recycling allows to recover precious raw material, that can be
re-used for the manufacturing of new products;

costs: aluminium packaging allows to cover the costs relevant to its collection and processing
in recycling centres. For this reason, the cost/quality of the recycled product ratio is one of the
lowest among the recyclable materials;

economy: aluminium recycling is a particularly important activity for the economy of our
country where there are no bauxite mines and energy costs are high. As a matter of fact, Italy
is the first European producer of secondary alluminium and it has a leading position worldwide;

environment: recycling reduces the amount of waste delivered to landfills and consequent
hazardous effects on the environment and, through the reduction of bauxite mining, it also
represents a precious contribution to the safeguard of the territories which are involved in the
mineral mining.
“Endlessly recyclable” aluminium develops the market and protects the environment
CIAL, Consorzio Imballaggi Alluminio (Aluminium Packaging Consortium), created in 1997 further
to the decree by law 22/97, represents the commitment, undertaken in Italy by aluminium
producers and aluminium packaging manufacturers and users, to research solutions to decrease,
recycle and recover packaging materials, combining market needs with environmental safeguard
needs.
Aluminium packaging industry has been investing significant attention and resources in the design
of new lighter and more recyclable packaging for years. The valorization of these materials by the
industry of the aluminium sector not only has an enduring habit, but it has also allowed to develop
ad hoc technologies for which our country has a leading position worldwide.
The creation of the Consortium, having among the others the task to grant the recovery of postconsumption aluminium packaging coming from the separate collection made by municipalities,
has allowed in the recent years, thanks to an increase in the collected quantity, not only to reach
the goals settled by the regulation, but also to decrease the dependence on foreign countries for
the supplies of material to be sent to recycling.
The results reached so far, in terms of separate collection, recycling and recovery, are actually
very good. The rate of aluminium packaging recovery has reached over 50% of the products put on
the market; this result has been reached through the signature, within the Frame Agreement
between the National Association of Municipalities (ANCI) and the Packaging National Consortium
(CONAI) of approximately 400 conventions which define the terms for the pick up of the collected
material in over 4,400 Italian municipalities, with the involvement of more than 40 million
inhabitants.
The strong spur given to separate collection, through the conventions signed by an increasingly
growing number of municipalities, above all in the areas of environmental emergency, will allow to
reach easily the objectives set by the law for 2004.
As a matter of fact, the total amount of 33,700 tons of used aluminium packaging will be recovered
by the end of this year, this figure corresponding to 50.7% of the amount put on the market for
consumption. Recycling will amount to 30,000 tons (45,1% of the quantity put on the market) and
energy recovery will correspond to 3,700 tons.
All recovered packaging – cans for soft drinks, spray cans, tubes, trays and rigid containers for
food, thin sheet for packaging, capsules, lids for yoghurt and similar food – therefore become new
aluminium that can be used for the production of new useful objects for daily use, with an
enormous energy and material saving.