Aluminum
Aluminum cans are lightweight, convenient, portable, and keep beverages cold. Cans are often used to package soda, beer, and other beverages, and account for nearly all of the beverage packaging market for some products. When you throw your aluminum can into the recycling bin, you are contributing to a process that conserves natural resources and saves money compared to manufacturing cans from virgin materials.
The Facts
- In 2001, the United States generated nearly 2 million tons of aluminum as containers and packaging, and manufacturers used approximately 1.2 million tons of aluminum to make durable and nondurable goods.
- The total amount of aluminum in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream—3.2 million tons—represented 1.4 percent of total MSW generation in 2001. In 1960, aluminum in MSW was only 0.4 percent of MSW generation (340,000 tons).
- The largest source of aluminum in the MSW stream is aluminum used beverage containers (UBCs) and other packaging containers.
- Other sources of aluminum are found in durable and nondurable goods, such as appliances and automobile parts.
- Manufacturers make 99 percent of all beer cans and 97 percent of all soft drink cans from aluminum. Aluminum beer and soft drink containers were recovered at a rate of 49 percent of generation (more than 0.7 million tons) in 2001, and 40 percent of all aluminum in containers and packaging was recovered for recycling in 2001.
- In 2001, Americans discarded about 2.4 million tons of aluminum in MSW after recovery—1.5 percent of total MSW discards.
- Automobiles also contain aluminum, but this aluminum is generally not calculated in measures of MSW generation, recycling, or disposal.
Benefits of Aluminum Recycling
The average aluminum can contains 40 percent postconsumer recycled aluminum. Recovering aluminum for recycling saves money and dramatically reduces energy consumption. The aluminum can recycling process saves 95 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite ore, as well as natural resources, according to the Aluminum Association. Making a ton of aluminum cans from virgin ore, or bauxite, uses 229 BTUs of energy. In contrast, producing cans from recycled aluminum uses only 8 BTUs of energy per can.
An aluminum can that is recovered for recycling is back in the consumer stream in a short period of time. It takes about 6 weeks total to manufacture, fill, sell, recycle, and then remanufacture a beverage can. Most of the aluminum recovered from the waste stream is used to manufacture new cans, "closing the loop" for can production.
