5 unexpected places you’ll find aluminium in everyday life

Last updated: September 2026

Aluminium's properties make it useful in everyday life. Here are 5 unexpected places where aluminium is used across power infrastructure, buildings, electronics, packaging and transportation.

1. In the power transmission lines above your head

Look up at a transmission line and you’ll find aluminium, carrying power from where it’s generated to where it’s needed.

Why is aluminium used for power transmission lines?

It comes down to a useful combination of properties. Aluminium conducts electricity well while weighing less than copper. That lower weight helps reduce the load on transmission towers and makes it practical to carry electricity over long distances. Aluminium is also corrosion resistant, an important advantage for infrastructure exposed to the elements year after year.

That combination of conductivity, low weight and durability is why aluminium is particularly well suited to high-voltage transmissions lines — even if most of us rarely notice it above our heads.

From metal to cable

We work with Prysmian on aluminium cable solutions that support energy transmission and digital transformation. In 2026, we trialled aluminium made with a blend of metal from our hydropowered Alma smelter in Quebec, Canada and aluminium produced using ELYSIS^® technology. The aluminium was used to manufacture lower-carbon cables to support the data centre industry’s growth.

2. Around our homes and shaping skylines

From the windows and doors in your home to the structural components and façades of skyscrapers, aluminium shapes the buildings around us.

It’s strong, durable and easy to shape into precise profiles without adding bulk, making it a good option for frames that need to support large panes of glass while staying relatively slim. Aluminium's durability also helps buildings withstand years of exposure to rain, wind and changing temperatures with relatively little maintenance.

The Empire State Building in New York, with aluminium in its structure and spire, was one of the first buildings to use the metal extensively.
The dome of Montreal’s Biosphere in Canada is made of interconnected aluminium triangles.
Aluminium makes up the frame and cladding of The Gherkin in London in England.

3. Keeping your electronics cool and light

Pick up your smartphone or open your laptop and aluminium may be doing more work than you realise.

Aluminium is used in consumer electronics because it conducts heat well. In smartphones and laptops, it can be used in frames and heat-management components, helping move heat away from internal parts and reduce the risk of overheating during demanding tasks like streaming or running multiple applications.

Portable devices need to be strong enough for everyday use without feeling bulky and aluminium offers a useful balance of strength and low density. It can also be precisely shaped and finished, helping manufacturers create the slim profiles and clean, modern appearance associated with many high-end electronics.

And because aluminium can be recycled repeatedly, it can help reduce the material footprint of consumer electronics.

4. Protecting what’s inside our packaging

Open a drink can, a tube of cosmetics or a pack of medicine and there’s a good chance aluminium is helping protect what’s inside.

Aluminium is widely used in packaging because it can provide an effective barrier against light, moisture and oxygen — helping protect products and preserve their quality.

Its ability to be formed into everything from cans and foil to tubes and blister packs also makes aluminium useful across a wide range of packaging applications.

And its usefulness doesn’t necessarily end when the package is empty.

Aluminium can be recycled repeatedly, keeping the material in circulation and contributing to a more circular economy. That means the aluminium in a drink can today could eventually find a new life somewhere completely different — even as part of a car.

That circular journey is increasingly part of how aluminium is produced too. At Arvida in Quebec, for example, used vehicle and construction aluminium can be remelted and returned to the production cycle.

5. In the cars we drive

Aluminium has long been used in vehicles, but automakers are using more of it¹ as they look to reduce weight without compromising strength, safety or performance. In automotive production, aluminium is used in components like body panels, wheels, engine parts, chassis components and, increasingly, electric vehicle (EV) battery enclosures.

For conventional vehicles, reducing mass can help improve fuel efficiency. For EVs, the challenge is slightly different: batteries add significant weight, so using aluminium in the right structural and battery-related components can help offset some of that mass and support driving range.

That makes aluminium especially useful as vehicle design evolves, helping manufacturers balance efficiency, range and performance without adding unnecessary bulk.

Infographic showing where aluminium is used in an electric vehicle, with a cutaway car illustration highlighting the battery enclosure, battery cells, body panels and structure, bumper and structure, and wheels and chassis. Labels explain that aluminium helps reduce vehicle weight, provide structural protection, absorb collision energy, and support battery performance.

The same material is carrying electricity above our streets, framing our windows, managing heat in our devices, protecting products on shelves and reducing mass in vehicles. But before aluminium can end up in any of these places, it has to be made. Rio Tinto’s aluminium business spans that journey: from mining bauxite and processing alumina to smelting aluminium and increasingly bringing recycled metal back into the production cycle.

Find out how aluminium goes from bauxite to the metal we use every day and why the way it’s produced matters.