Aluminum can recycling conserves natural resources and biodiversity. Over 50% of aluminum cans produced are recycled, thanks to advances in technology. The process involves compacting, melting, and casting the metal into new cans, taking up to 60 days from start to finish.
Aluminum can recycling is a concept promoted by people trying to live a sustainable life. Sustainability is the attempt to conserve natural resources and biodiversity by assuming certain lifestyle habits and the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. Aluminum is one of those natural resources and is considered to be the most abundant metal on earth. An empty aluminum can is worth about 1 US cent, and over 50% of the aluminum cans produced are still recycled. Thanks to advances in technology, recycling aluminum has become more efficient and cost-effective. The metal is ground up and crushed, then melted down to make new cans.
Much like glass recycling, aluminum can recycling is a cyclical process that begins when consumers throw the cans into their curbside recycling bins, where they are collected and shipped to the recycling plant. In the United States, about two out of every three cans manufactured make it to local recycling centers. Upon collection at regional scrap processing plants, the cans are compacted into briquettes or dense bales. These masses can range from 30 to 1,200 pounds (13.6 to 544 kilograms) and are shipped to aluminum companies for casting into new cans.
The compacted masses of the cans are stripped of any superfluous layers inside or outside the product container via a combustion process. Then they are shredded and crushed into aluminum pieces the size of a wood chip. The pieces are stacked in a smelting furnace, which combines the recycled metal with new pieces of pure aluminum.
Once in the molten state, the aluminum is poured into enormously heavy ingots, which are then rolled into 0.01 inch (0.254 millimeter) thick sheets, through the rolling mill. The sheets are then removed, rolled up and shipped to the can makers. At this point the process is complete. Manufacturers produce the can bodies and lids which are passed on to beverage companies who fill them with their product. The finished products eventually end up on grocery store shelves. The entire aluminum can recycling process can take up to 60 days from start to finish.
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