Sheet and plate can be recycled continuously

When aluminum is passed between rolls under pressure, it becomes thinner and longer in the direction in which it is moving. This simple process is the basis for producing aluminum plate, sheet and foil. Sheet, the most widely used form of industrial aluminum, is used in applications including aerospace (the skins of planes), transportation (auto body sheet), packaging (can bodies and ends) and construction (building facades).

Take-Away Facts

Sheet and plate can be recycled continuously

Sheet and plate aluminum can be recycled continuously without loss of properties. Recycling sheet and plate aluminum saves more than 90 percent of the energy otherwise required to produce primary aluminum.

Highest performance standards in armor

Military-grade aluminum armor plate meets the U.S. military’s highest performance standards. Aluminum armor can deflect a .50-caliber round that would pierce other materials.

The “gauge” of aluminum sheet and foil

Aluminum from 0.008 inches to less than 0.25 inches thick is considered sheet. Thinner aluminum is foil and aluminum 0.250 inches and thicker is plate.

The colder, the stronger

Aluminum plate is used for storage tanks in many industries in part because some aluminum alloys gain strength at supercold temperatures.