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There is no “greener product” than aluminum for Traffic Signs.
Plastic signs have entered the traffic sign market multiple times over the years.
While recyling plastic for the use in making traffic signs seems like a good idea, plastics have issues that aluminum does not:
Plactic and PVC signs can be prone to fading or cracking in extreme weather.
Once the plastic sign is at the end of its life, it no longer becomes easy to recycle it again and ends up in landfills or burned.
Plastics are known to release toxins, become microplastics and enter out ground water endangering all life and our ecosystem.
Until the 1970’s, steel and wood were the primary substrates for traffic signs.
Aluminum was used during this time as well, but it was “airplane grade” (6061 alloy) which was way too expensive and unnecessary for a traffic sign.
Advancements in the aluminum industry led to new alloys in the 1970’s and 80’s, so aluminum quickly replaced steel and wood.
Since the 1980’s there have been multiple substrates designed to replace aluminum as the traffic sign substrate – fiberglass, Lexan, ACM, recycled plastic – and all have failed miserably. Aluminum has stood the test of time better than any other substrate.
Aluminum is considered the most recyclable material on planet Earth, so nothing is a “greener product”.
