Aluminum producers and recyclers in the aluminum industry work with individuals, communities and businesses to enable both curbside and industrial recycling programs. UBC (used beverage container) recycling is the most readily recognized of the recycling programs. Aluminum is also recycled at the end of life from products such as cars and building parts. Window frames, wire, tubing and electronics are additional examples of aluminum that is recycled at the end of life.
The most valuable material in the recycling bin
Aluminum is the most recyclable of all materials. Discarded aluminum is more valuable than any other item in the recycling bin.
Aluminum is the most recyclable of all materials. Discarded aluminum is more valuable than any other item in the recycling bin. Aluminum cans lost to landfills
Americans throw away more than $700 million worth of aluminum cans every year.
Americans throw away more than $700 million worth of aluminum cans every year. A major market for recycling
The aluminum industry spends more than $800 million dollars a year on recycled cans.
The aluminum industry spends more than $800 million dollars a year on recycled cans. Recycling from can to iPod
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to listen to a full album on an iPod. In 2007, in an open letter to Apple, Steve Jobs encouraged the company to expand its own product recycling efforts. The company has set a goal of 70 percent recycling efficiency by 2015.
Aluminum is recycled through a variety of programs. The most commonly recognized consumer programs are curbside and municipal. In these programs, items like beverage cans, aluminum foil, aluminum baking trays and pie pans are recycled. The aluminum industry actively supports the Recycling Partnership, which is a program dedicated to increasing participation in curbside recycling programs and to measure this growth using solid data. Within the industry, building and automotive parts are collected for recycling. More than 90 percent of the aluminum in building and automotive parts is recycled at the end of use. All of these items serve as a feedstock and are sent to aluminum recyclers to be melted down in the secondary production process.
Aluminum is one of the most recycled -- and most recyclable -- materials on the market today. Nearly 75 percent of all aluminum produced in the U.S. is still in use today. Aluminum can be recycled directly back into itself over and over again in a true closed loop.
The economics of aluminum also contributes to its position as one of the most-recycled metals in the U.S. Unlike many other materials, aluminum more than pays for its own recycling in the consumer and industrial waste stream. The reason: demand for aluminum continues to skyrocket and recycling aluminum saves more than 90 percent of the energy required versus producing new metal.
During WWII, aluminum foil was so vital to the defense effort that families were encouraged to save strips of foil. In many towns, the foil balls could be exchanged for a free entry to a movie theater. Government-sponsored posters, ads, radio shows, and pamphlet campaigns urged Americans to contribute to scrap drives. A New York radio station, WOR, debuted the radio-sketch show “Aluminum for Defense” in 1941.
Car-face on June 27th, 2020 at 04:51 UTC »
The reason is how hard/expensive it is to refine aluminium from bauxite. The transformation of scrap into recycled aluminium alloys requires approximately 5% of the energy input needed to produce primary ingot from bauxite.
INTJ-XP on June 27th, 2020 at 02:48 UTC »
Aluminum is also the only material that you save money by recycling, at least as of the start of the decade. Everything else costs more than you gain from reuse
Ed: I love all the additional information people have offered. For my part, I was thinking only of the typical collection containers the average civilian has access to when visiting the landfill, eg paper, plastic, glass, brown glass and aluminum/tin. I wasn't actually thinking about scrap metal in this context. I recommend people check out the second tier comments under mine, they have really interesting nuances to contribute to give you a more comprehensive understanding
Astark on June 27th, 2020 at 02:45 UTC »
The Aluminum Industry: "We've been selling you the same thing over and over your whole life. Thanks, hippies!"