Where Do Recycled Cans Go?

Did you know that aluminum cans are reborn every 60 days? Recycled cans lead pretty complex
lives, in fact. Because aluminum scrap is endlessly recyclable, that ordinary soda can may have
been melted down andmatter how carefully the architect plans the job design, every project
generates some waste. And if there’s demolition involved in the job, at the end of the day, you
could be hauling off tons of debris — or paying someone else to do it for you. But have you ever
considered scrap metal recycling as part of your demolition plans?
The bottom line is that waste costs money. The storage and removal of waste materials costs
construction businesses hundreds of dollars per project, yet many of those matter how carefully
the architect plans the job design, every project generates some waste. And if there’s demolition
involved in the job, at the end of the day, you could be hauling off tons of debris — or paying
someone else to do it for you. But have you ever considered scrap metal recycling as part of your
demolition plans?
The bottom line is that waste costs money. The storage and removal of waste materials costs
construction businesses hundreds of dollars per project, yet many of those matter how carefully
the architect plans the job design, every project generates some waste. And if there’s demolition
involved in the job, at the end of the day, you could be hauling off tons of debris — or paying
someone else to dThen there’s yellow brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which most scrap metal
recycling centers will happily take off your hands. Iconic for its use in musical instruments like
horns and bells, yellow brass is also in heavy rotation in door hinges, handles and locks, as well
as plumbing pipes and fixtures and electrical components. Brass is a heavy metal that can add
up fast on the scale. And because it’s non-ferrous (does not contain iron), it will fetch you high
prices at the scrap yard!
 
Stainless Steel
You’re probably already familiar with stainless steel—in fact, chances are you have some
stainless steel objects and fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom right now. Stainless is the most
valuable type of steel since it doesn’t rust like untreated steel. That’s because it’s actually a steel
alloy. A little bit of chromium is added during the production process to give it its rust resistance.
 
Stainless steel comes in a wide variety of grades and finishes, which can affect the value of the
steel when it comes in for trade. Because of this, it’s sometimes confused with aluminum, which
has a much lower market rate. Try testing your stainless steel products with a magnet Then
there’s yellow brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which most scrap metal recycling centers will
happily take off your hands. Iconic for its use in musical instruments like horns and bells, yellow
brass is also in heavy rotation in door hinges, handles and locks, as well as plumbing pipes and
fixtures and electrical components. Brass is a heavy metal that can add up fast on the scale. And
because it’s non-ferrous (does not contain iron), it will fetch you high prices at the scrap yard!
 
Stainless Steel
You’re probably already familiar with stainless steel—in fact, chances are you have some
stainless steel objects and fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom right now. Stainless is the most
valuable type of steel since it doesn’t rust like untreated steel. That’s because it’s actually a steel
alloy. A little bit of chromium is added during the production process to give it its rust resistance.
 
Stainless steel comes in a wide variety of grades and finishes, which can affect the value of the
steel when it comes in for trade. Because of this, it’s sometimes confused with aluminum, which
has a much lower mThen there’s yellow brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which most scrap
metal recycling centers will happily take off your hands. Iconic for its use in musical instruments
like horns and bells, yellow brass is also in heavy rotation in door hinges, handles and locks, as
well as plumbing pipes and fixtures and electrical components. Brass is a heavy metal that can
add up fast on the scale. And because it’s non-ferrous (does not contain iron), it will fetch you
high prices at the scrap yard!
 
Stainless Steel
You’re probably already familiar with stainless steel—in fact, chances are you have some
stainless steel objects and fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom right now. Stainless is the most
valuable type of steel since it doesn’t rust like untreated steel. That’s because it’s actually a steel
alloy. A little bit of chromium is added during the production process to give it its rust resistance.
 
Stainless steel comes in a wide variety of grades and finishes, which can affect the value of the
steel when it comes in for trade. Because of this, it’s sometimes confused with aluminum, which
has a much lower market rate. Try testing your stainless steel products with a magnet Then
there’s yellow brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which most scrap metal recycling centers will
happily take off your hands. Iconic for its use in musical instruments like horns and bells, yellow
brass is also in heavy rotation in door hinges, handles and locks, as well as plumbing pipes and
fixtures and electrical components. Brass is a heavy metal that can add up fast on the scale. And
because it’s non-ferrous (does not contain iron), it will fetch you high prices at the scrap yard!
 
Stainless Steel
You’re probably already familiar with stainless steel—in fact, chances are you have some
stainless steel objects and fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom right now. Stainless is the most
valuable type of steel since it doesn’t rust like untreated steel. That’s because it’s actually a steel
alloy. Then there’s yellow brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which most scrap metal recycling
centers will happily take off your hands. Iconic for its use in musical instruments like horns and
bells, yellow brass is also in heavy rotation in door hinges, handles and locks, as well as
plumbing pipes and fixtures and electrical components. Brass is a heavy metal that can add up
fast on the scale. And because it’s non-ferrous (does not contain iron), it will fetch you high prices
at the scrap yard!
 
Stainless Steel
You’re probably already familiar with stainless steel—in fact, chances are you have some
stainless steel objects and fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom right now. Stainless is the most
valuable type of steel since it doesn’t rust like untreated steel. That’s because it’s actually a steel
alloy. A little bit of chromium is added during the production process to give it its rust resistance.
 
Stainless steel comes in a wide variety of grades and finishes, which can affect the value of the
steel when it comes in for trade. Because of this, it’s sometimes confused with aluminum, which
has a much lower market rate. Try testing your stainless steel products with a magnetThen
there’s yellow brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which most scrap metal recycling centers will
happily take off your hands. Iconic for its use in musical instruments like horns and bells, yellow
brass is also in heavy rotation in door hinges, handles and locks, as well as plumbing pipes and
fixtures and electrical components. Brass is a heavy metal that can add up fast on the scale. And
because it’s non-ferrous (does not contain iron), it will fetch you high prices at the scrap yard!
 
Stainless Steel
You’re probably already familiar with stainless steel—in fact, chances are you have some
stainless steel objects and fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom right now. Stainless is the most
valuable type of steel since it doesn’t rust like untreated steel. That’s because it’s actually a steel
alloy. A little bit of chromium is added during the production process to give it its rust resistance.
 
Stainless steel comes in a wide variety of grades and finishes, which can affect the value of the
steel when it comes in for trade. Because of this, it’s sometimes confused with aluminum, which
has a much lower market rate. Try testing your stainless steel products with a magnetThen
there’s yellow brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which most scrap metal recycling centers will
happily take off your hands. Iconic for its use in musical instruments like horns and bells, yellow
brass is also in heavy rotation in door hinges, handles and locks, as well as plumbing pipes and
fixtures and electrical components. Brass is a heavy metal that can add up fast on the scale. And
because it’s non-ferrous (does not contain iron), it will fetch you high prices at the scrap yard!
 
Stainless Steel
You’re probably already familiar with stainless steel—in fact, chances are you have some
stainless steel objects and fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom right now. Stainless is the most
valuable type of steel since it doesn’t rust like untreated steel. That’s because it’s actually a steel
alloy. A little bit of chromium is added during the production process to give it its rust resistance.
 
Stainless steel comes in a wide variety of grades and finishes, which can affect the value of the
steel when it comes in for trade. Because of this, it’s sometimes confused with aluminum, which
has a much lower market rate. Try testing your stainless steel products with a magnet
 
Stainless steel comes in a wide variety of grades and finishes, which can affect the value of the
steel when it comes in for trade. Because of this, it’s sometimes confused with aluminum, which
has a much lower market rate. Try testing your stainless steel products with a magnet arket rate.
Try testing your stainless steel products with a magnet o it for you. But have you ever considered
scrap metal recycling as part of your demolition plans?
The bottom line is that waste costs money. The storage and removal of waste materials costs
construction businesses hundreds of dollars per project, yet many of those matter how carefully
the architect plans the job design, every project generates some waste. And if there’s demolition
involved in the job, at the end of the day, you could be hauling off tons of debris — or paying
someone else to do it for you. But have you ever considered scrap metal recycling as part of your
demolition plans?
The bottom line is that waste costs money. The storage and removal of waste materials costs
construction businesses hundreds of dollars per project, yet many of those matter how carefully
the architect plans the job design, every project generates some waste. And if there’s demolition
involved in the job, at the end of the day, you could be hauling off tons of debris — or paying
someone else to do it for you. But have you ever considered scrap metal recycling as part of your
demolition plans?
The bottom line is that waste costs money. The storage and removal of waste materials costs
construction businesses hundreds of dollars per project, yet many of those matter how carefully
the architect plans the job design, every project generates some waste. And if there’s demolition
involved in the job, at the end of the day, you could be hauling off tons of debris — or paying
someone else to do it for you. But have you ever considered scrap metal recycling as part of your
demolition plans?
The bottom line is that waste costs money. The storage and removal of waste materials costs
construction businesses hundreds of dollars per project, yet many of those reprocessed literally
hundreds of times.
So how does that can go from your refrigerator to the recycling plant and back again? And what
goes on at that recycling center, anyway? Read on for an illuminating look at the thousand lives
of recycled aluminum.
 
And They’re Off!
This part you already know: the first step in aluminum scrap recycling starts with you, the
consumer. You place your used aluminum can in the recycling bin or, better yet, make some
money by selling your cans to an aluminum scrap recycling yard near you, where it joins other
discarded materials to be recycled.
That’s only the beginning of your can’s journey, of course. At a treatment plant it can be sorted,
cleaned and processed.
 
Sorted, Cleaned, Delivered
First off: sorting. Recycling plants use lots different equipment and techniques to turn the stuff in
your bin into fresh materials, including conveyor belts, screens and magnets. Some items are
even culled by hand. Part of the goal here is to separate cleaner cans from soiled ones (a little
insider tip here: the cleaner your cans are when you pitch them, the less energy plants spend on
cleaning — making your recycling center more efficient). Which leads us to the next step:
bathtime.
Soiled containers go into a seperate line so they can be washed using industrial-strength spigots.
Only after they’re squeaky clean will they rejoin their fellow cans for further processing.
Here comes the fun part. A giant machine, aptly called “a crusher,” smooshes cans into a solid
block. The crusher is crazy powerful: it has a giant hydraulic panel that squashes cans like
they’re ants. (You can watch a gif of that process here — it’s oddly satisfying.)
 
Another One in the Can
And with that, the can’s life at the recycling center comes to an end. The blocks of aluminum
scrap, known as “bales” in industrial-speak, make their way to an aluminum processing center for
smelting. The bales are melted down at a high heat that removes coatings, paint and labels on
the outside.
After the metal heats to its liquid form, it’s poured into a giant mold to make ingots. When we say
giant, we’re not kidding—each ingot contains about 1.6 million melted cans!
Next, a finishing mill heats the ingots and flattens them down to smooth sheets of processed
aluminum scrap. Once they cool a little, they get wound up like giant rolls of aluminum scotch
tape.
And that’s when they get to the last leg of their journey. The metal rolls are brought to a
manufacturer so they can be melted into new cans for sodas, beer, energy drinks, juice, tea,
coffee . . . you get the idea. The manufacturer slaps a new label on them, fills them up, seals
them and then ships them off to stores.
The whole process, from start to finish, takes about 60 days. Compared to the 500 years it takes
for aluminum to oxidize naturally, that’s a pretty good deal for the environment.
But it could be a pretty good deal for you, too. In fact, if you’re looking to earn spare cash, an
aluminum recycling center near you will even pay you for your cans, so you can buy—you
guessed it—more cans full of tasty things. Now that’s what we call a renewable resource!