Recycling Aluminium 1. Identify 3 reasons why the recycling of Aluminium is important
Recycling aluminium is important as it: * Is very cost effective compared to extracting aluminium from its ore (bauxite) due to less energy consumption * Conserves the known reserves of the non-renewable ores/metal in the Earth's crust * Reduce pollution produced from the mining and extraction of the metal and hence lower damage to the environment and decrease landfill quanitites

2. Choose one reason and explain why it is important
Recycling of Aluminium extends the useful life of the metal. The energy required to recycle Aluminium is only 5% of the energy required to extract it. On Earth, energy is a limited resource as it is majorly derived from fossil fuels. As our supply of fossil fuels are quickly depleting, it is important that we conserve and sustain our resources in such a way that they are still available for future generations. Also, as our resources quickly decline, the value of energy is increasing, hence costing us more money. From here, we can see that it is vital for our use of energy to be minimised as much as possible. In support of this, the recycling of Aluminium saves us from wasting the 95% more energy required in its extraction, and so also saves money.

3. Identify and describe the steps involved in recycling aluminium.
Aluminium is 100% recyclable without any loss of quality from the original product.
Steps to recycling aluminium: 1. Collect the used Aluminium from homes, shopping centres, factories etc. 2. Transport the material to a central processing plant. Central processing plant: 1) Contaminants are removed. Plastic bags are removed by hand, fans are used