Aluminum Recycling Study – waste classification and possible reuses
Why are there no aluminium bins at the foot of the houses like glass recycling bins? We were intrigued by this simple question, weren't you?
Project Description
Metals are used in many areas for their properties. Among theem, the most important are their fracture resistance, thermal and electrical conductivity and high performance at high temperatures. Metals have become indispensable in many areas such as machinery, energy, transportation, construction and many others. Since metals are present in all these areas and have very interesting properties, we wanted to study the metal sorting chain in Switzerland in order to be able to take stock of the situation and to determine whether improvements are possible and which innovative reuses can be envisaged with current technology.
Why aluminium ?
In view of the results of our research on metals, we have therefore focused our study on the aluminium sorting cycle in Switzerland. Indeed, aluminium is widely used at EPFL, both for laboratory equipment and for restoration and storage. In addition, a simple question intrigued us greatly: Why are there no aluminium bins at the foot of the houses in the same way as paper, glass or vegetables?