1. Consequences of metal fabrication

The quantities of metals extracted and the impacts specific to each metal differ. Around 1.5 billion tonnes of steel, 60 million tonnes of aluminium and 25 million tonnes of copper are produced every year . The impacts associated with these different metals are so varied that, although the quantities of steel produced far outweigh all other metals, only steel's effect on climate change is clearly dominant. The environmental impacts of copper and aluminum (ecotoxicity, human toxicity, cancers) are more significant