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Metallic aluminum is produced commercially from the mineral bauxite, a hydrated oxide of aluminum. The top five bauxite producing countries (in 2007) are Australia, China, Brazil, India and Guinea. Metallic aluminum is smelted from bauxite by electrolysis, which is very energy-intensive. Combined with the fact that aluminum, more so than any other substance, can be recycled with no degradation in its properties, there is a strong economic incentive to recycle aluminum products. According to the International Aluminum Institute, secondary (recycled) aluminum production was 16 million tonnes in 2006. That can be compared to an estimated 33.4 million tonnes of primary (mined) aluminum production in the same year. So, about a third of the world's aluminum can be found in the recycling stream and two-thirds in the ground.

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10y ago

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