Recycling Aluminum

Aluminum is one of the major types of products recycled in North America each year. Aluminum is used to make cans, foil, and other items such as trays. Americans recycle approximately 65-70% of the aluminum used in household products each year. However, hundreds of thousands of tons of aluminum products are being thrown away each year.

People tend to think of pop cans as the only item to recycle. Actually, there are hundreds of other items made from this particular metal. Even large items like lawn furniture qualify. If you have something you're not sure about, give your local recycling center a call.

Aluminum recycling is actually an interesting process. First the items are collected from the different recycling centers and transported to a scrap metal plant.

Once at the processing plant the aluminum must be sorted and then condensed into slabs. You may be wondering what happens to the labels on pop cans or other types of coating. This is all dealt with at the aluminum company, which is where the slabs are sent to next.

Once at the aluminum company the slabs are shredded and crushed. During this process any labels, coating, etc is removed. The shredded aluminum is then melted with new aluminum. Most aluminum products that we buy have approximately 50% recycled product in them.

Once it has been melted the aluminum can be made into any shape necessary. Of course, the process will differ slightly depending on the type of product that is being being made. Aluminum recycling sounds easy doesn't it?

Aluminum is actually the most common metal on earth. So why is it so important to recycle it then? While we are at no risk of running out of aluminum any time soon, using new aluminum requires much more energy than using recycled aluminum. Waste is also a key issue.

North Americans produce an enormous amount of waste each year. And where does it all go? Landfills are filling up and we are running out of places to put our waste. Not only that, but waste is very harmful to indigenous flora and fauna that live in the areas that we have decided to use for our landfills.

To get more people to recycle aluminum, companies might consider deposits. When we buy a can, we usually are paying a deposit built into its price. If we want that deposit back, we must return the can. It then enters the cycle of going to a recycling center and then on to be processed.

Recycling benefits everyone. It not only cuts down on our waste and saves energy, but it also creates jobs and is good for communities. While most people do their part to recycle and help the environment, many don't, and are still throwing away their aluminum cans and other recyclable products.

In case there is no recycling program in your locality then it is a good idea to start an environmental group and take up aluminium recycling as a start up scheme. Once you do that you will notice that many people and local businesses are interested in the project.

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Harry Browar is the owner of First Alluminum, the #1 source on the internet for information about alluminum. For more articles on alluminum why not visit: www.firstaluminum.com/articles
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