RECYCLE CANS
ALUMINUM CANS
On average, Americans drink one beverage from an aluminum can every day.But we recycle just over 49% of the cans we use.
Since the cans are 100% recyclable, we could drastically reduce the energy needed to produce brand new cans simply by recycling our empties.
An aluminum can is able to be returned to the shelf, as a new can, as quickly as 60 days after it’s put into your recycling container.
Coast-to-coast, there are about 10,000 locations that buy aluminum, making it easy for Americans to redeem their used beverage cans for cash. In fact, recycling aluminum cans is a $1 billion/year industry in this country.
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.
A Day in the Life of a Recycled Can
- Customer takes can to a recycling center or puts it into a recycling bin.
- The can is transported to a processing facility.
- A giant magnet lifts out cans that are made of metals such steel. Since aluminum cans aren’t magnetic, they drop down to a conveyor belt and are gathered.
- The aluminum is shredded, washed and turned into aluminum chips.
- The chips are melted in a large furnace.
- The melted aluminum is poured into molds called “ingots.”
- The ingots are taken to a factory where they’re melted into rolls of thin, flat sheets.
- From the sheets, manufacturers make new products, including new beverage cans, pie pans, license plate frames, and aluminum foil.
- Beverage companies fill the cans and deliver them to grocery stores for customers to purchase.
- Customers take used cans to a recycling center and the process starts all over again.