The Process of Recycling Aluminium Cans

Aluminium cans are some of the most recycled items in the world. Most communities have some sort of aluminium recycling center, and in many places, recycling your cans is even encouraged by local laws.

There is no limit to the number of times aluminium can be reconditioned, so we could theoretically keep re-using the current cans in circulation, and never have to do any more mining.

The whole process only takes one month before they’re ready to re-enter the market, so it’s one of the more effective recycling schemes currently in use. How aluminium recycling works:

COLLECTION

The process begins with the collection of cans, and this is handled in a few different ways. Some garbage services require you to sort your trash into different bags for recycling purposes, and there will usually be a category for cans, along with papers, plastics, and glass.

In other places, people take it upon themselves to collect a large number of cans over time, and bring them all to a local recycling center. Usually the center will actually pay you a little bit for the cans you collect, and although it isn’t very much, it’s still a nice incentive.

BREAKING EVERTHING DOWN

Once the aluminium cans reach the recycling center, they are shredded down into strips of roughly equal size. Paint is stripped away using chemical cleaners, and the strips are compacted into giant cubes of metal, then shoved into a furnace.

The cans are baked with tremendous heat, and melted down into a molten substance, then decontaminated. After that, it’s very easy to turn the aluminium into giant ingots which are shipped off to be transformed into cans.

FINAL STEPS

The can making process begins with stripping the metal from the ingots and turning it into long thin sheets that are collected on giant rolls.

The sheets are unrolled, cut, and shaped into cans through a complex mechanical process that's almost entirely automated. When the cans are being cut, small left over bits of aluminium are collected so that they can be transformed back into ingots and reprocessed.

Once the cans are formed, they’re washed, painted, filled with beverage, and shipped out for our consumption. After we buy them, the process begins again.

Aluminium recycling is a marvel of modern technology, and a great example of what we can achieve through years of perfecting and refining a process. It’s one of the first things we started recycling in large quantities, and we’ve taken it to incredible heights of efficiency.