The global awareness to reduce carbon emissions largely depends on the shoulders of various industry leaders. It has been widely accepted that recycling different materials is one of the most important steps in saving the environment. The technology needs inherent in eco-friendly manufacturing are significant.
A testament to this concept is the big percentage of recycled aluminum being used in the manufacturing industry. The material became more in demand with the advent of anodized aluminum. This is the finish product of enhancing aluminum surfaces using an electrolytic passivation process. Compared to conventional coatings and plating, this process utilizes very minimal heavy metals and volatile organic compounds. Like the recycling of aluminum, anodizing is an environment-friendly process that has lesser negative impact on the environment.
The distinct characteristic of anodizing over plating is that the generation of the coating uses the base metal as the source. In the case of aluminum, the coating carries the same characteristics as the former. The coating that is produced is a non-hazardous aluminum oxide that can be increased in thickness for wear and corrosion resistance. If other coatings interfere with the recycling process through additional overhead costs, metals that have been subjected to the anodizing process can be immediately recycled without entering a cleaning process.
Although aluminum is softer than iron, it has found an overwhelming us in the transportation, construction, and consumer goods manufacturing. It has inherent quality to resist corrosion but this property is greatly enhanced using the anodizing process. Starting from the computer hardware to skyscrapers, aluminum has evolved into one of the most cost-effective and flexible metals in use today. As the most widely used non-ferrous metal, aluminum is also third among the most abundant elements. For this reason, the anodizing process is essential for every industry that uses this metal. With practically no effect in the recycling process, anodizing helps in the reduction of mining for additional supply of aluminum. Industries will be more motivated to engage in recycling if it would be easier and cheaper. There would also be no resistance at all from environmentalists because there is no degradation of the environment from the production of the base metal and the coating process involved.
