Bauxite/Aluminum and the Environment :: Essays Papers

Bauxite/ atomic number 13 and the EnvironmentAluminum is the third close common element in the earths crust, with reserves guaranteed to last hundreds of years, and, in its ore, bauxite, i of the most economically momentous minerals in the world. It is, perhaps, more easily recycled than some(prenominal) different mineral substance used by man, but tap operations still continue and ar enormously valuable. Aluminum companies conduct been at the forefront of environmental progress and effort in the minerals industry. Aluminum is not the cleanest metal to produce, and it is often found in ecologically significant regions. However, the undaunted aluminum industry has managed to do its part for the environment, and continually alter its suffer efficiency. Azom.com notes that, since bauxite is chiefly found in tropical or subtropical atomic number 18as, mines are often associated with the fall forest. In truth, only about 6% of the worlds current bauxite production takes place in precipitate forest regions, affecting a total area of around 1.5 km2 per year (azom.com). Bauxite mines are closely always of the open-cast type, so they have a wide impact on the land area above them. Even so, 80% of bauxite mines on forestland are eventually returned to forest, the rest replaced by agriculture, commercial forest, or recreational area, thereby making the area more productive for the local community whats more, the rain forests in particular are almost totally reverted back to rain forest (azom.com). Most companies mining bauxite remove the fertile top obscenity separately from the rest of the overburden, so that it can reapplied to assure maximum service program of the reclaimed land. In addition, over 60 per cent of companies have their own nursery plant facilities and many put special care into water system drainage to avoid soil erosion due to rainfall or other hold onoff (azom.com). In short, the reclamation procedures undertaken by aluminum companies are typical of the modern American mining industry. The workers in aluminum run into more difficulty during the processing stage. Aluminum refining produces large enumerates of PFCs, CFCs, and other poisonous or environmentally damaging gases. The process of refining itself entangled diatomic chlorine gas as a reagent. Reducing the amount of chlorine gas used is a constant preoccupation in the industry, although attention is also given to reducing gaseous, liquid, and solid waste by operating air pollution equipment that captures pollutants and recycles raw materials (Aluminum Association). In recent years, salient progress has been made by the Voluntary Aluminum Industry alliance (VAIP) organized by the EPA.