Interesting Facts about Aluminum Recycling Aluminum recycling is the process of reusing scrap aluminum to make various products. Recycling this precious metal involves less cost and energy use as compared to mining and manufacturing new aluminum. The following are a few interesting facts about recycling aluminum.
Benefits of recycling Aluminum cans: More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product. An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can, 500 years from now. Over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans every year by humans. A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days. In 1972, it took about 22 empty, aluminum cans to weigh one pound. Due to advanced technology to use less material and increase durability of aluminum cans, in 2002 it takes about 34 empty aluminum cans to weigh one pound. An empty aluminum can is worth about 1 cent. Every minute an average of 123,097 aluminum cans are recycled and on average. The average aluminum can contains more than 50% post-consumer recycled aluminum. Recycling Aluminium can reduce wastage: • Each year, more than one million tons of aluminum containers are thrown away.
• Last year, approximately 36 billion aluminum cans were landfilled. The cans that were thrown away had an estimated scrap value of more than $600 million. • It is estimated that over the past twenty years, humans have trashed more than 11 million tons of aluminum beverage cans worth over $12 billion on today's market. Recycling aluminium saves energy: Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95 percent less energy and 20 recycled cans can be made with the energy needed to produce one can using virgin ore. Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can's volume of gasoline. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for almost four hours or run your television for three hours. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours Twenty years ago, it took 19 aluminum cans to make one pound, but today's aluminum cans are lighter and it now takes 29 cans to make a pound. Therefore it can be seen how Recycling Aluminium not only saves time and money but it also reduces wastage and increases energy efficiency.