Facts About Recycling

Aluminum cans

The aluminum can is the ideal container. Aluminum cans hold 2.5 times more beverage per cubic meter than a refillable bottle. This saves both storage and transportation space, reduces energy consumption and gas exhaust emissions. Other advantages of the aluminum can include being air-tight, hygienic, does not break and easy to open. Aluminum cans melt and cool fast, thus saving energy. Aluminum cans be recycled over and over and the printing ink used is water-soluble and non-toxic. These facts above are related to the aluminum can recycling and usage in North America. There is lots of energy and pollution conservation to account for if you included other recycled aluminum products such as screen doors, cooking ware, window frames and lots of others.

• The modern 12 fluid ounce aluminum can, it takes 31.8 cans to equal one pound.
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a T.V. for 3 hours.
• 97% of all beverage cans are aluminum.
• Aluminum cans do not stick to a magnet, steel cans do. North America is currently recycling 2/3 of their aluminum cans. Aluminum cans uses 95% less energy over refining from raw aluminum (Bauxite ore). 
• Current energy saved in one year from recycling aluminum cans in the USA would light the entire city of Denver, CO for more than 10 years. 
• Using recycled aluminum beverage cans to produce new cans allows the aluminum can industry to make up to 20 times more cans using the same amount of energy. 
• The energy saved in one year from recycled cans is equivalent to 20 million barrels of oil or 12 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. 
• The aluminum beverage can returns to the grocer’s shelf as a new product in as little as 90 days after collection, smelting, rolling, manufacturing and distribution. 
• America alone uses over 80,000,000,000 aluminum pop cans every year. 
• In two weeks, the United States produces enough cans that, if stacked end on end, would be tall enough to reach the moon. Making cans from recycled aluminum cuts related air pollution by 95%. 
• Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.

Steel & iron recycling

Steel is the most used and recycled metal – around 60% of all steel is recycled. Popular Steel items include automobiles, food cans, and appliances. All these items new will contain a minimum of 25% recycled steel. An almost full proof way to determine if an item is steel or not is by using a magnet, the magnet will stick to steel. Steel recycling has little if any money value to recycle but a tremendous value to our depleting earth and energy conservation.

• The steel everyday used by Americans could run a steel pipe line from New York to Los Angeles and then back to New York
• Using recycled steel saves 74% of the energy opposed to producing them from raw ore.
• On average a little more than 9,000 steel cans are removed from landfills with a magnet every minute
• An average American family throws out over 200 pounds of steel cans away every month.
• In the U.S. the recycling of appliances in one year would be enough to build 160 football stadiums.
• Steel recycling saves enough energy that is equivalent to electrically powering 1/5 of all homes in the U.S.
• Food cans usually contain a tin coating which is a valuable metal. 70% to 80% of this tin is recovered in the recycling process of food cans.

Paper, plastic, glass, and other recycling 

• Using recyled paper saves 70% of the energy needed usings trees.
• To produce one week of Sunday newspapers in the USA 500,000 trees must be cut down.
• If everyone recycled their newspapers 250 million tree’s could be saved every year.
• It takes 15 years for a tree to produce just 700 grocery bags.
• Two billion trees are cut down every year for manufacturing in the USA.
• One person on average will use up 7 trees a year using products made from trees
• One billion trees worth of paper is thrown in the trash every year
• One hundred acres of rain forest are cut down every minute.
• 20 species of plant life and animals are forced into extinction every week.
• At the bottom of plastic containers you’ll find a number code which will help you separate your plastics.
• Plastic trash thrown into waters kill over 1 million creatures every year.
• The energy saved from one recycled glass bottle will run a 100 watt light bulb for 4 hours

The importance of recycling – This is just a portion of the benefits to recycling and just a portion of recyclable materials. 75% of all “trash” can be recycled. Recycling benefits our energy resources, fuel, our earth, and our future. Who knows you may make a little cash along the way. PLEASE RECYCLE!