Soil to Foil

Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust. It is also ubiquitous in the modern world, from aircraft to soda cans. A dizzying number of consumer and industrial products employ aluminium, typically alloyed, because of its availability, versatility, and malleability. Today, how efficiently we use—and reuse—aluminium is vital to addressing key environmental challenges and understanding humanity's fraught relationship with the earth.

Soil to Foil tells the extraordinary story of aluminium. Saleem H. Ali reveals its pivotal role in the histories of scientific inquiry and technological innovation as well as its importance to sustainability. He offers compelling portraits of the scientists and innovators who discovered new uses for this remarkable element, ranging from chemistry and geoscience to engineering and industrial design. Ali argues that aluminium exemplifies broader lessons about stewardship of nonrenewable resources: its seeming abundance has given rise to wasteful and destructive practices.

Soil to Foil follows aluminium's path along the supply chain, from extraction to production, consumption to recycling. Ali explores the ecological damage at mine sites and visits affected communities seeking to restore the land. He foregrounds the possibilities for more sustainable industrial practices, emphasizing how product design can incorporate eventual reuse and recycling. Ultimately, Soil to Foil shows that the story of aluminium's use and misuse helps us rethink how to sustainably manage the resources of our planet.