Tracing the benefits--and limitations--of repurposing aluminum.
Besides being the right thing to do for Mother Earth, recycling can also
make money--particularly when it comes to upcycling, a zero waste
practice where discarded materials are fashioned into goods of greater
economic or cultural value. In Upcycling Aluminum, Carl A. Zimring
explores how the metal's abundance after World War II--coupled with the
significant economic and environmental costs of smelting it from bauxite
ore--led to the industrial production of valuable durable goods from
salvaged aluminum.
Beginning in 1886 with the discovery of how to mass produce aluminum,
the book examines the essential part the metal played in early aviation
and the world wars, as well as the troubling expansion of aluminum as a
material of mass disposal. Recognizing that scrap aluminum was as good
as virgin material and much more affordable than newly engineered metal,
designers in the postwar era used aluminum to manufacture highly prized
artifacts. Zimring takes us on a tour of post-1940s design, examining
the use of aluminum in cars, trucks, airplanes, furniture, and musical
instruments from 1945 to 2015.
By viewing upcycling through the lens of one material, Zimring deepens
our understanding of the history of recycling in industrial society. He
also provides a historical perspective on contemporary sustainable
design practices. Along the way, he challenges common assumptions about
upcycling's merits and adds a new dimension to recycling as a form of
environmental absolution for the waste-related sins of the modern world.
Raising fascinating questions of consumption, environment, and desire,
Upcycling Aluminum is for anyone interested in industrial and
environmental history, discard studies, engineering, product design,
music history, or antiques.
