Recycling Aluminium
Word Count: 704
Author: David McEvoy

Aluminium is a valuable commodity and can be a lucrative
source of revenue for those companies and organisations
that choose to collect it.  It is lightweight and versatile
and around 43 million tonnes of it are produced world wide
each year of which 30% is made from secondary production or
recycled Aluminium.

It easy an easy metal to recycle and can be recycled
indefinitely without any loss of quality to the Aluminium
itself. It therefore makes a lot of sense both economically
and environmentally to recycle as much Aluminium as
possible.

Five Good Reasons for recycling Aluminium:

• Recycling Aluminium uses only 5% of the energy it
takes to produce new Aluminium
• Using recycled Aluminium reduces CO2 emissions and
air pollution
• It reduces the need to mine the raw materials
required to make the metal such as Bauxite
• It is a relatively simple process that can be
repeated over and over and that doesn’t compromise
the quality of the Aluminium
• It reduces the amount of Aluminium ending up in
landfill

Basically, recycling Aluminium is quick and effective and
if we take a common household item like drinks cans for
example, when recycled they can be back on supermarket
shelves within six weeks of collection.  Around 75% of all
drinks cans sold in the UK are made of Aluminium and
despite the fact that they are 100% recyclable, around 3
billion drinks cans still ended up in landfill in 2001
according to Waste Online. This is simply a complete waste
of a valuable resource and although recycling rates are on
the increase, there is still a lot of Aluminium not being
recycled so why is this? The main barrier to recycling
Aluminium is simply in the collection of it.

Collecting aluminium packaging for example can be
problematic as it is very light and there’s lots of
it and as it is made from different alloys, it must be
separated from Aluminium drinks cans.  Getting into the
habit of collecting, sorting and recycling your Aluminium
packaging is one thing that you as an individual can do to
help protect the planets resources, save energy and can
even earn you cash.

Recycling Aluminium Cans

The Aluminium used to make cans is different from Aluminium
foil packaging so must often be collected separately. Find
out what your local recycling depot requires, for example,
do they collect cans and packaging together or must they be
sorted first?
One simple way of testing whether your can is made of
Aluminium or Steel is to place a magnet next to it, if it
sticks, it is not Aluminium.

There are also numerous ‘cash for cans’ schemes
operating throughout the country so find out where your
nearest one is and deposit your cans there or donate them
to charity so that they can raise much needed funds.  As
much as 45p per kilo can be paid out for sorted cans, this
equates to approximately 60 cans.

Recycling Aluminium Packaging

The types of Aluminium packaging you can collect that is
suitable for recycling includes:

• Milk bottle tops
• Yoghurt lids
• Baking and Freezing Trays
• Kitchen Foil
• Cigarette Foil
• Chocolate Wrappers

To check whether a wrapping is made from Aluminium or not
just crush it up in your hand, if it bounces back (like
crisps packets) then it is not able to be recycled. Some
centres will accept Aluminium foil for cash and will often
pay up to 30p per kilo for clean foil.

Recycling Aluminium Aerosol Cans

Local authorities and other recycling depots will sometimes
accept aluminium aerosol cans if they are completely empty,
however, it is best to check first so that you can meet
their requirements.

More information

For more information on where to recycle your Aluminium
cans and packaging or where the nearest cash for cans
centre is, contact Alupro at www.alupro.org.uk.  The role
of Alupro (The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation)
is to educate the public and make sure that packaging waste
recycling targets are met and they work with local
authorities and other partners to do this, they also work
with the Government on policy issues.

If in the USA, you can find out more links to sites dealing
with recycling Aluminium by contacting the Aluminium
Association at www.aluminium.org.


About the Author:

Dave McEvoy writes for Value Skips UK , a waste management
company offering skip hire services, information and waste
disposal advice.For more information please come and visit
our site http://www.valueskiphire.co.uk