Aluminium Maximum Pollution

Aluminium is extracted from bauxite by means of heavy chemical processes. For one tonne of aluminium, up to four tonnes of harmful red mud are produced. It is stored in vast basins and leaks or dyke failures often cause whole villages to be flooded by masses of corrosive mud. Toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury turn rivers into deadly toxic zones. Even without any accident, the penetration of substances toxic to the environment into the air, the soil and the water has serious consequences: the people who live near aluminium plants complain of water pollution, skin diseases and the death of fish.

Its open-cast mining leads to large-scale deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems and landscapes.

To reach the thin layer of rock lying beneath the surface of the earth, trees are felled over immense areas in Australia, Indonesia, Brazil and Guinea. In Brazil, an area equivalent to 250 football pitches is devastated every year in order to allow bauxite to be extracted.

This also produces fluorine emissions into the air and the water. Highly oxidising fluorine vapours attack vegetation; the water becomes loaded with fluorine and toxic aluminium salts.

What is more, aluminium is not without effect on our health, some sources claim that it could be involved in diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, lateral amyotrophy,...

Producing one tonne of aluminium requires 15 megawatt-hours, the consumption of a 2-person household over five years. Energy-hungry aluminium production is only profitable when a large quantity of electricity is made available at a very low price. In Brazil for example, gigantic hydroelectric dams are being built and the lands of indigenous communities are flooded

In Germany, it is the car industry that is the biggest consumer of the light metal: each car contains up to 150 kilograms of aluminium.

Nearly 20% of aluminium is contained in food packaging: letting no light through and neutral in terms of taste, aluminium is prized for making coffee capsules, tins and other yoghurt lids. It is also used as an antiperspirant in deodorants and it regulates the texture of creams. It is also found in certain medicines.

Demand for aluminium has increased considerably in recent years, which has had disastrous consequences.

We can reduce our production by reducing our consumption. Think about it!