Facts about recycling cans

Aluminum Recycling Facts

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Aluminum Recycling Facts

Overview

Given the prevalence of curbside pickup and recycling dropoff centers, recycling the aluminum can that contains your soda or the aluminum foil that wraps your brownies often takes only a little effort, but the payoff is big. Because it saves energy, natural resources and money, recycling aluminum instead of consigning it to a landfill benefits consumers, manufacturers and the environment.

Volume

Americans do not recycle as much aluminum as they could. In 2008, 48 percent of the aluminum beverage containers that were created were later recovered, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports. For aluminum containers and packaging, that proportion was lower: 38 percent. Every three months, Americans toss out enough aluminum to recreate all the commercial airplanes in the nation, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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Energy Savings

The University of Colorado at Boulder notes that making cans from recycled aluminum rather than virgin ore uses 95 percent less energy. You can power a television for three hours using the energy saved by recycling just one aluminum can. For the same amount of energy that it takes to make a single aluminum can from new ore, you can make 20 recycled aluminum cans.

Cycle

The aluminum recycling process, in which aluminum products from the waste stream are made into new aluminum products, often moves quickly. A can may be manufactured, filled, sold, used, recycled and used to make a new can in as brief a time as six weeks, the EPA notes. An average aluminum can contains about 40 percent recycled metal.

Sources

Aluminum is recycled from numerous sources. Soda and beer cans are the most well known, but aluminum from cars, appliances, doors and windows can also be recycled, the U.S. Geological Survey notes. According to the EPA, used beverage containers and other packaging provide the largest volume of aluminum scrap and diecasts from automobile manufacturing the second largest amount.

History

The process of recycling existing aluminum into new aluminum has been around since the beginning of the 20th century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. However, aluminum recycling didn't begin to attract widespread public attention until the 1960s, when aluminum can recycling began to take root.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/141018-aluminum-recycling-facts/#ixzz1KIob4cve

The Benefits of recycling cans

Benefits of Recycling Aluminum Cans

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Benefits of Recycling Aluminum Cans

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that the United States generates close to 2 million tons of aluminum from packaging such as soda cans each year. Recycling can give new life to used aluminum cans--but the fact is, many used cans get thrown into the trash can rather than into the recycle bin. Recycling aluminum cans is an important way to protect the planet and its inhabitants.

Environmental Benefits

Recycling aluminum cans reduces energy consumption. According to the EPA, using recycled aluminum cans saves 92 percent of the energy needed to create new aluminum cans from bauxite ore. Saving energy is an important way to conserve the earth's limited resources and preserve the resources that remain. Recycling aluminum cans does both by protecting remaining natural resources and by conserving energy. Aluminum is a special material because it can be recycled over and over again; within 60 days, a used can can be recycled and turned into a new can, reports Earth911, an environmental services organization dedicated to protecting the planet.

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Economic Benefits

Used aluminum cans have more uses beyond being re-created into new aluminum cans. The Aluminum Association encourages creative uses for old aluminum cans as one way to save money while also doing something positive for the planet. One family in Aurora, Colorado, accepted the challenge and relies on used aluminum soda cans to heat their home. The soda cans are placed inside a solar heating unit and the family reports a decreased use of their heater, which saves them money on electric costs. Earth911 suggests that curbside recycling programs be started in neighborhoods to help pay for community services such as the Boy or Girl Scouts. Recycling aluminum cans is also an easy way to raise money for local schools and to help build homes, Earth911 says.

Personal Benefits

Environmentally conscious individuals find that recycling aluminum cans is financially rewarding in addition to being good for the planet. Most aluminum can recyclers make a small amount of extra cash by turning in their empty cans. The benefits can be even more far-reaching than spare change, according to the Aluminum Association. Jim Schroeder, a man living in Evansville, Indiana, saved enough aluminum cans to send his four children to college and now donates his earnings to charity. According to Earth911, the aluminum industry pays out more than $800 million a year for empty aluminum cans and encourages consumers to cash out by recycling their used cans.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/123359-benefits-recycling-aluminum-cans/#ixzz1KIo05kjm

The importance of recycling cans.

Why Is it Important to Recycle Cans?

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Why Is it Important to Recycle Cans?

Overview

Aluminum cans are one of the most commonly recycled products. There are many economic and ecological benefits associated with the recycling of aluminum, and the recycled material can be used in the production of a variety of new products. Aluminum recycling has been a common practice since the early 1900s and is now supported nationally.

Aluminum Can Production

The production of aluminum cans impacts the environment in several ways. Possibly some of the most harmful byproducts of aluminum can production are greenhouse gases. According to the Environmental Literacy Council, recycling aluminum produces far fewer greenhouse gases and requires much less energy than making cans from raw material. Recycling aluminum can significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emission.

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Recycling Process

Earth911.com provides a basic description of how aluminum cans are recycled. Aluminum cans are first collected from local recycling sites and drop-off points and are then taken to regional scrap processing companies where they are condensed into bales. The bales of aluminum cans are then shipped to aluminum companies that melt them down and press them into aluminum sheets. These aluminum sheets are sent to aluminum can processing plants, where they are formed into new cans.

Benefits

There are many benefits associated with recycling aluminum cans that affect the environment, surrounding communities and your wallet. According to Earth911.com, aluminum is a sustainable metal that can be recylced repeatedly. This is extremely environmentally friendly because recycling cuts down on the natural resources that are needed to produce and refine aluminum from raw material. The aluminum can is extremely valuable in terms of recycling, and Earth911.com states that approximately $800 million dollars are paid out for empty cans each year. Due to the monetary value of aluminum cans and the quick turnover period, aluminum can collection is a popular option for community fundraisers, as aluminum cans can be collected and recycled quickly, which can provide money for community organizations and charities.

Recycled Material Uses

Aluminum in general can serve a variety of uses after it is recycled. Recycled aluminum can be used in automobiles, windows, doors and several other products. Aluminum cans are less versatile when recycled. They are sustainable metals, meaning they can be recycled indefinitely. According to Earth911.com, aluminum cans are mainly recycled into new cans, which can happen in a mere 60 days.

Fun Facts

According to the Can Manufacturers Institute, 105,784 aluminum cans are recycled per minute in the United States. At this rate, recycling aluminum cans can save enough energy in one year to light the entire city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for six years. The institute also states that recycling aluminum cans produces 97 percent less water pollution than producing brand new cans from raw ore.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/169860-why-is-it-important-to-recycle-cans/#ixzz1KImV3THw

Recycling Cans - How it all started.

How Aluminum Can Recycling Started

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How Aluminum Can Recycling Started

Overview

Metal cans were originally developed to store food for soldiers to carry into the field. In 1795, the French government offered a prize of 12,000 francs to anyone who could invent an effective means of preserving food, according to the Can Manufacturers Institute, the trade association of the metal can manufacturing industry. Nicholas Appert, who won the prize, packaged partially cooked food in air-tight glass bottles sealed with corks. Early cans were made of tin, which corrodes when exposed to the acids found in soft drinks.

Identification

Aluminum, which was discovered in the 1820s, is the most abundant metal on Earth, according to the environmental group Earth 911. Aluminum is made by mining deposits of bauxite ore and refining it into aluminum metal using electricity, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or U.S. EPA.

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Features

Aluminum is a durable metal that can be used over and over. Earth 911 reports that 50 percent of all aluminum cans are recycled. Aluminum cans are portable, lightweight containers that keep beverages cold. Their rigid structure keeps the cans from being broken or crushed during shipping. According to the Can Manufacturers Institute, manufacturers constantly change the shapes and sizes of aluminum containers. The EPA estimates that 99 percent of beer containers and about 97 percent of soda cans are aluminum.

History

During the 1940s, manufacturers began exploring how to adapt tin cans to package carbonated soft drinks. They began using aluminum cans as beverage containers in 1965. The success of the aluminum can results primarily from its recycling value, according to the Can Manufacturers Institute. The aluminum can recycling infrastructure developed after the first Earth Day in 1970. By the 1990s, recycling aluminum cans became a way of life for many people.

Benefits

The benefits of recycling aluminum cans include saving money and reducing energy consumption. The EPA estimates that recycling cans saves about 92 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite. According to the Can Manufacturers Institute, recycling cans minimizes consumer and production waste. Recycled aluminum cans can be back on store shelves as new beverage containers in about 60 days, according to Earth 911.

Considerations

Aluminum beverage containers are the largest source of aluminum in the municipal solid waste stream, according to the EPA. People can recycle aluminum to raise money. An empty aluminum can is worth about 1 cent. Earth 911 reports that the aluminum industry pays out about $800 million dollars for empty aluminum cans each year (Reference 5). Aluminum recycling allows charitable organizations to fund local projects, such as school improvements. The Cans for Habitat program, a joint partnership between the Aluminum Association and Habitat for Humanity International, supports a network of drop-off locations to recycle aluminum cans to help raise money to build affordable housing for low-income families around the country, according to Earth 911.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/197840-how-aluminum-can-recycling-started/#ixzz1KIn2eHl9