Aluminium

- Aluminium is 100% recyclable. It can be melted down and reformed without losing any quality, while this process can be repeated continuously without the metal loosing form.

- 75% of all aluminium that has ever produced is currently still in productive use. 

- It is the most recycled of any industry metal.

- The emissions savings from aluminium recycling have more than doubled since 1990. The aim is to increase this by a further 50% by 2020.

- Aluminium recycling saves over 90 millions tonnes of CO2 annually.

- Aluminium recycling requires up to 95% less energy than primary aluminium production. On average 170 GJ of primary energy (most in the form of electricity) is required to produce a tonne of primary aluminium, while a tonne of recycled aluminium requires only 10 GJ.

 

- This metal is used in buildings, transport, numerous packaging, machinery, electrical applications, consumer durables etc. It is lightweight, heat-resistant and flexible. It also has the best properties to keep food and drink, toiletries and pharmaceuticals fresh and safe. This means that products stored in aluminium containers will have a longer shelf-life.

- Its finish is compatible with all printing technologies. Embossing, embedding and lacquering can also be used on aluminium.

- Aluminium is a very light material (about the quarter of steel), which helps save resources during product transportation and storage. It is one the lightest materials to offer a strong barrier against gases, light and moisture, meaning that it can help to extend the life of the products it is protecting.

- Some Life Cycle Assessments (LCA's) show that aluminium packaging contributes less than 10% of the environmental impact in a product‘s lifecycle.

- Disadvantages include that aluminium is easy to scratch, it is expensive and is not strong when compared to steel.

Personal thoughts:

It seems to me that the advantages of using aluminium greatly outweigh the few disadvantages. Aluminium is a very versatile metal, which would be perfect as a paint can container. It is strong and secure, meaning that the paint can be stored safely. I have discovered that aluminium is also a very environmentally-friendly metal. It can be recycled over and over again and it seems that people actually make the effort to make sure that it is being recycled. It is also very light, which will be convenient during transportation. 

References:

http://recycling.world-aluminium.org/en/home.html

http://www.matalco.com/about_aluminum.htm