Aluminum Recycling

In North America, one of the most frequent products to be recycled is aluminum. It's main uses are in making cans, foil, and trays, among other things. Americans are known to recycle about 65-70% of the aluminum they use annually. This still leaves hundreds of thousand of tons just tossed out.

When most people think about recycling aluminum, they think of pop cans. But you can actually recycle other products such as lawn furniture and anything else made from aluminum. If you have an item that you would like to recycle, but are unsure if it is recyclable, contact your local recycling depot.

The process which aluminum products must go through before they can be used in new products is an interesting one. Aluminum products are collected from various recycling depots and taken to a processing plant that deals with scrap.

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.

Aluminum can be formed into any shape once it's been melted. The process differs according to product, but in general it sounds pretty easy, doesn't it?

As aluminum is the most common metal on the planet, why do we bother recycling it? We aren't going to run out of it for eons, but using new product is actually more energy consuming. Another issue is the waste factor.

People living in North America waste a huge number of products every year. All this waste ends up in landfills and we are running out of room to establish more of them. Not only that, but waste harms all animal and plant life living in the landfill sites.

One way that companies can encourage consumers to recycle aluminum is deposits. Most aluminum cans require you to pay a deposit. In order to get that deposit back you must return the can. The can is then transported to the recycling depot and then to the processing plant.

Most people help the recycling process and in the bargain protect the environment. There are still many people who throw away these cans and other recyclable products instead of sending them for recycling. Recycling is good for all. It reduces our waste products and conserves energy. The process also creates many jobs and helps the community.

If there is no recycling program in your area why not get an environmental group started and make that your first project? You will probably find that many people want to get involved, including local area businesses.

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Harry Browar is the owner and operator of First Alluminum, the #1 source on the internet for information about alluminum, For more articles on alluminum visit: www.firstaluminum.com/articles
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