Bauxite/Aluminum and the Environment :: Essays Papers

Bauxite/Aluminum and the Environment Aluminum is the third most common element in the earth's crust, with reserves guaranteed to last hundreds of years, and, in its ore, bauxite, one of the most economically significant minerals in the world. It is, perhaps, more easily recycled than any other mineral substance used by man, but mining operations still continue and are enormously valuable. Aluminum companies have 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 improve its own efficiency. Azom.com notes that, since bauxite is chiefly found in tropical or subtropical areas, mines are often associated with the rain forest. In truth, only about 6% of the world's current bauxite production takes place in rain forest regions, "affecting a total area of around 1.5 km2 per year" (azom.com). Bauxite mines are almost 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"; what's more, the "rain forests in particular" are "almost totally reverted back to rain forest" (azom.com). Most companies min ing bauxite remove the fertile top soil separately from the rest of the overburden, so that it can reapplied to assure maximum usefulness 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 drainage to avoid soil erosion due to rainfall or other runoff (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 amounts of PFCs, CFCs, and other poisonous or environmentally damaging gases. The process of refining itself involved 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, great progress has been made by the Voluntary Aluminum Industry Partnership (VAIP) organized by the EPA.