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Small amounts of additional metals are mixed with the aluminum to prevent corrosion and add other beneficial characteristics. Electricity is applied to the aluminum oxide to separate the aluminum from the oxygen. The bauxite is refined to remove aluminum oxide, a white powder with the consistency of sugar. Recycling aluminum cansAluminum is made from a mined substance called bauxite. Today, thanks to advances in technology and a concerted effort to reduce the amount of material used in packaging, the average beverage can weighs less than half an ounce. When companies first started using aluminum cans they weighed about 3 ounces. More companies jumped on board in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the 1980s, the aluminum can was considered the king of all beverage containers. Aluminum was also strong enough to withstand the considerable pressure of carbonating sodas. One of Royal Crown’s main reasons: It was easy to print nice graphics directly on the can, which helped it increase brand awareness and market share. It started packaging its RC Cola and Diet Rite brands in aluminum in 1964. Royal Crown Cola was the next company to buy into aluminum cans in a big way. And, the company believed in recycling - consumers who returned their beer cans to the brewery received a penny for each piece. Coors found that aluminum cans preserved flavor better. Aluminum has plenty of other uses as well, including wiring, window and picture frames, cookware and lawn chairs.Ĭoors Brewing Company, based in Colorado, was the first beverage company to put its beer in aluminum cans in 1959. Aluminum goes into other food storage products such as foil and pie tins, all of which can be recycled assuming they do not have too much food or grease on them. Sodas, beer, energy drinks and more line the shelves at supermarkets and convenience stores around the country. For that reason, they fetch a decent price on commodity markets, and almost every community has a program for recycling them.Īluminum cans have always been recycledThe most common use for aluminum cans is holding beverages. It seems crazy to have such a valuable resource sitting in landfills or being destroyed in incinerators.īoth aluminum and steel are in high demand from manufacturers. They are eminently usable and reusable getting new metals requires destructive and expensive mining, and we will run out of them someday.
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But, every recycler knows that all metals are precious. There are precious metals and then there are non-precious metals. This article provides tips on recycling two common household items: aluminum cans and steel food cans (also known as tin cans).