Recycling Articles : How Aluminium Is Recycled

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According to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs in the UK (DEFRA) “Generally, the recycling of aluminium cans continues to increase whilst both production and consumption decrease.”

On one hand that may make it appear that we are winning the battle over aluminium. However, as production of aluminium cans decreases, production of plastic bottles and non-recyclable glass is slowly increasing. Unfortunately, one of the materials that we are recycling well is becoming less popular.

Pro-recycling families may consider preferring aluminium, a recyclable packaging waste, over plastics and glass in future since it is much easier to recycle.

Companies who have begun to recycle aluminium have certainly acknowledged the financial benefits as well as those that concern the environment which is perhaps why recycling of aluminium continues to improve every year. Considering that it is now the most valuable recycled product, it is no surprise that “cash for cans” incentives have been launched to encourage recycling.

Often schools run incentive programs with recycling companies involving some of the profit from the recycled aluminium being used to fund development projectsin the third world. However, if this is not possible, roadside collections will often allow the recycling of aluminium.

When aluminium has been collected, the recycling process is fairly simple. The metal is sorted in the reprocessing plant and then shredded to reduce the can to slithers of metal, melting the lacquer (the paint which decorates the cans) and then casting the aluminium into “ingots”. One ingot is a massive block of aluminium which will contain approximately 1,600,000 used cans.

These ingots are then sold to the people who manufacture cans and the new cans will be returned to supermarket shelves within six to eight weeks. Sometimes, ingots made from recycled cans are even used in the production of cars. Overall, recycling aluminium is a profitable exercise aand should be considered by anyone who cares about the environment.

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