Most materials are doomed to languish in a landfill at the end of their lifespan, but cans are one of the easiest and most cost effective products to recycle. This is reflected in the rate at which people recycle cans. In some states like Michigan and Oregon they are even paid to do so, which makes the process even more appealing.
Types
The two most common types of cans are aluminum beverage cans and steel tin cans used for food packaging. Both contain pure materials that can be recycled indefinitely. Once these cans are collected from curbside programs or stores, they must be separated, melted and then remade into new forms of packaging.
Energy
According to the Can Manufacturing Institute, recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy used to manufacture the product from virgin materials. Every lb. recycled saves 7.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity; the amount of aluminum cans recycled for one year is enough energy to power a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years. Recycling steel cans saves 60 to 74 percent of the energy used to produce them from raw materials.
Manufacturing
Recycling a ton of aluminum cans saves 5 tons of bauxite, the material from which aluminum is made. In order to approach its final form bauxite has to be strip-mined, crushed, washed and then refined. This process creates 5 tons of caustic red mud residue which can seep into soil and groundwater. About 95 million tons of greenhouse gases and 75,000 tons of emissions such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides produced by the aluminum industry could otherwise be thwarted by the simple act of recycling. In addition, recycling a ton of steel cans saves 2,500 lbs. of iron ore, 1,400 lbs. of coal and 120 lbs. of limestone.
Amount
Today over 1.6 billion lbs. of aluminum cans are recycled every single year, which is about equal to the weight of 14 aircraft carriers. It's estimated that 18.7 million tons have been recycled since 1972. Each recycled can is one less that can clog up landfills and litter local environments. Nearly 1.5 million tons of steel were recovered from packaging material in 2001 at a rate of 58 percent.
Benefits to Recycling Initiative
Beverage containers represent less than 20 percent of the materials collected from curbside recycling programs yet are the most valuable, generating nearly 70 percent of the total scrap value. This helps pay for the collection of other materials which otherwise might not necessarily be profitable to recycle.
