A planetary atlas of material flowsOpening this view…
Start with an everyday object or material.
Jump directly to a material, regional account or named facility.
From bauxite to alumina to aluminium. Follow the mines, refineries and smelters that make the metal, and the recovered scrap that returns to production.
Primary aluminium production extracts the metal from alumina. This is distinct from remelting existing metal.
Mining and refining leave residues upstream.
Metal is formed into packaging, frames and many other products. Beverage-deposit systems and packaging programs have different scopes.
Manufacturing scrap can enter recovery before a product is used.
Collection must match the relevant local program. The figures here describe Recycle BC packaging, not every aluminium product.
Unaccepted materials need their own collection route.
Sorting provides feedstock for metal recycling. Aluminium is separated from other materials before manufacturing again.
Contaminants and process residues still require management.
Possible products include containers, signs and frames. The program does not identify each receiving mill.
The exact product and yield for a particular shipment are unknown.
Explore the local operations and regional systems that collect, transform and recover this material.
Checking available records…
No. Recycle BC reports metal packaging as a group. The 81.6% BC and 18.4% elsewhere-in-Canada allocation must not be presented as an aluminium-only measurement.