Facts About Recycling Cans

The creation of aluminum cans does not come without a hefty price to the earth. Carelessly tossing them into the trash without recycling continues the damage to earth through solid waste that will live in our landfills for a long time. Finding a recycle bin for your empty can may not always be the easiest, quickest way of disposal, however, it's better to spend five extra minutes finding a recycle container than having our planet spend hundreds of years caring for your discarded can.

Significance

Bauxite, or aluminum ore, torn from the surface of the earth in mining becomes the main component of aluminum cans millions of times per day. Bauxite comes from near the earth's surface and according to Tuft's University, its mining destroys more of the earth's surface than the mining of any other ore. The damage done to the earth in the creation of a can does not stop there. Toxic byproducts, greenhouse gasses and wasted energy in transportation all play a part in the creation of an aluminum can.

History

Can recycling became a popular cause in 1968 and quickly raised public awareness of recycling in general. Although recycling efforts had been going on since the early 1900s, public awareness of the need and strategies for doing so was extremely low. With the push to recycle cans, came discussions and publicity for the need to recycle many items. Suddenly recycling in general became a national cause and industry. From 1972 to 2006, recycling of cans grew from 24,000 metric tons to 525,000 metric tons.

Function

Aluminum cans recycle easier than most other recyclable materials and do so efficiently. Recycling an aluminum can requires 75 to 95 percent less energy than creating a new can and no new destruction of the earth's surface through mining occurs. According to the Aluminum Association, 100 percent of the old can is used in creating the new can in just a matter of weeks (See Reference 2). There is no limit on the number of times a can may be recycled.

Considerations

Every day through the decision not to recycle, 100 million new cans arrive in landfills across our country to enjoy the next 500 years sitting on the earth's surface waiting to decompose. Without these 100 million cans, recycling efforts cannot keep up with the demand for new cans. As a result, additional ore mining takes place to create new cans, damaging the earth more in the process.

Effects

Worthwhile charitable organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Habitat for Humanity use funds generated from can recycling to achieve their goals. Recycling cans for one of these organizations is an easy way to donate to a worthwhile cause either through volunteering to collect cans or by placing your own discarded cans in their collection containers.