A few facts:
Aluminum and Steel are 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly.
Metal recycling is efficient: it only takes 2 months for a can to be recycled and back as a new can on the grocery shelf!
Aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item in the U.S.
The volume of metal waste sent to landfills still represents around 2% of Municipal Solid Waste, where it would take 200 to 500 years to decompose.
Metals that can be recycled are usually metal and aluminum cans, tins, clean foil…
Don’t forget to empty, rinse and compress all containers!
How does metal recycling work?
Metal is a material that can be recycled easily and continuously.
The metal recycling process consists of the following steps:
Separation: metals are sorted to detect different types of metals from each other
Preparation: metals are often shredded to reduce the energy used during the recycling process and to make each metal a similar density. For example, aluminum is converted into thin sheets.
Melting: metal is transported into a furnace to be exposed to high temperatures and converted to molten metal
Purification and formation: metals released from the furnace can then be purified and shaped for their next purpose. Metals are often formed into bars, blocks or sheets.
Preservation of Natural Resources
Metal is excavated from the earth through a process called mining. Recycling metal helps to reduce the effects of mining. Mining operations can destroy natural habitats and pollute local environments.
The production of new metal from virgin ore releases a far greater amount of greenhouse gas emissions and uses more energy compared to making products from recycled metal.
By recycling your can, you help reduce the demand for natural resources such as ore and also save energy. It requires much less energy to create a can from recycled aluminum than from raw materials: 20 cans can be produced from recycled aluminum with the same energy needed to create one can from virgin ore.
Remember: metal is a resource that can be recycled over and over without any loss in quality. So don’t forget to discard your cans in the recycling bin to save resources and energy!
Yes, you CAN!
