How Does Aluminum Get Ret Recycled Into Other Objects?

How Recycling Happens

While recycling has been around for some time now, it is still a fairly new process. Most people only know that when an aluminum can is recycled it somehow gets turned into a new can. But what exactly goes into the process of recycling aluminum? The most common aluminum material that is recycled and made from recycled aluminum is soda cans. This explanation focuses on that particular process.

Choosing to Recycle

The first step, of course, is the obvious choice made by the consumer of aluminum goods to recycle the used material. For some people it is an everyday thing, and for others the choice to recycle anything, much less an aluminum can, is daunting and considered impractical. Many states and localities throughout the country have tried numerous methods to help people get to the 100 percent level of recycling through different measures.

Getting the Aluminum to the Recycling Center

The second step in the cyclic aluminum recycling process is making sure that aluminum gets to the recycling center. Some communities provide recycling bins and pick-up services, and in some of these communities recycling is mandatory by law. Each recycling bin is used to recycle a different material, such as paper, glass or aluminum. When the recycling company comes and picks up the bins, they ship them off to the recycling center.

Recycling the Aluminum

The next step in the recycling aluminum process is to turn the used aluminum into bricks. This step is completed by a compactor similar to what you would find in a junk yard where cars are being smashed down. However, these bricks are not the size of a brick used to build a building. These are much larger in size--about 1,000 lbs. or more. This makes for easier and more efficient movement of the material from one location to another. These bricks are melted down in order to proceed to the following step.

The Old Into New

Last is the process of creating new aluminum items. First, the aluminum must be burned in order to eliminate its non-aluminum content. From there, they are cut into almost bite-sized pieces and are melted together with new aluminum. From there the aluminum is poured into a mechanism called an ingot. It is here where the combined new and recycled aluminum material is rolled into extremely thin sheets. These sheets are received by the companies who create the soda cans we all drink out of.