What Happens to Recycled Cans?

               

       Most people understand the basics or recycling or turning in your cans at the supermarket, but do you know how it really works? In the U.S. roughly 120,000 cans are recycled every single minute, yet aluminum only makes up 1% of our total trash output.

       Aluminum cans are considered by some to be the perfect recyclable material. It can be melted down time after time and it will hardly lose any of it's quality. Most of the time cans are recycled to make more cans, however other industries also find the recycled metal useful. Aluminum cans are also sold to companies who produce things like:

- Car Parts

-Airplane Components

- Bike Parts

-Baseball Bats

-Camera Components

       Now obviously when you turn in your cans at the supermarket, they are already separated and ready for recycling. In the case of recycling from home, an extra step is involved. Many cities and towns have a single stream recycling system and haul all of the potentially recyclable materials to a sorting facility. Here all of the materials are separated from one another, paper, plastic, metal, glass, etc. It is an exhaustive process that uses both human labor and sophisticated sorting machinery. As far as the cans go, part of the recycling process includes sending waste through a "Trommel Screen" which automatically detects cans and sends them off to the baler.  

One of the largest recycling facilities is located at Sunset Park waterfront in Brooklyn, NY.

       Facilities such as this are the complete package, most everything that they need for the recycling process is located within this building. This includes the sorting facility as well.

Next the aluminum is sent to the balers where they are crushed into more manageable cubes. However, there are different balers, of different sizes that are used depending on where the aluminum is being sent to. Cubes of aluminum cans are sold to clients who have the ability to melt them down themselves to produce their products. There are smaller balers that make smaller cubes for truck shipment. There are larger balers that make very big cubes for shipping via train or container ship.

Finally once the aluminum is melted down, it is back in it's original form and can be used again like new. Aluminum is a reasonably valuable scrap metal and it is worth the time effort and investment to make sure that it is used to it's fullest potential.

Parting Recycling Facts!

-Recycling just one aluminum can save enough energy to power a 60 watt light bulb for a day.

-It can also save enough energy to listen to a full album on an Ipod.

-In 2007 Steve Jobs pledged to expand their recycling efforts at apple, and set a goal of 70%   recycling efficiency.

-Discarded aluminum is the most likely the most valuable item in your trash can.

-The Aluminum industry pays out more than 800 million dollars a year for recycled cans.

-The can recycling rate in the U.S. is about 67%.

-Nearly 75% of all aluminum made in the U.S. is still being used today.