From Can to Can
By Katie Furnivall
Sixty days! According to Waste Management, after a can is picked up, it takes only sixty days to get it back on the shelf. In the US, we've been recycling aluminum cans since the early 1900s. In the second century of this process, innovative technology speeds up the remanufacturing process, uses fewer resources and makes the recycling process super-efficient.
Aluminum is picked up in Routt County by Old West Sanitation and Waste Management. If Waste Management picks up your recycling, they bale it and truck it to Waste Management Recycle America (WMRA) in Denver. The aluminum is sorted at WMRA on the conveyor belt by reversing its magnetic charge and repelling it into a separate bin. After Waste Management has the aluminum separated and baled, most of it is bought by, and sent to, a company called ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America). According to their website, ALCOA is the largest aluminum recycling company in America and has over three-hundred locations in forty-four countries. (The aluminum can also be bought and sent to smaller companies like Reynolds, but is usually all bought by ALCOA.) At ALCOA all of the aluminum is mixed; cans, TV trays, and children's play sets, for example, are all jumbled together.
If Old West Sanitation collects your recycling, they drop it off at Curbside Recycling Indefinitely, Inc. in Grand Junction where the aluminum is sorted by hand from the plastics. Curbside Recycling processes about one bale a week weighing in at 550 pounds, and going through a broker, the bale will be sold to the highest bidder of the week. The bales may be sent to locations such as Alabama, Texas, and many different places in Colorado.
Whether your aluminum goes through WM or Old West Sanitation, at this stage it all goes through the same process to be manufactured back into aluminum products. The manufacturer puts the aluminum through shredders, and melts it into large thin sheets of pure aluminum usable for myriad products. If the process is done right, meaning there are no contaminates from the early stages, then it can be remanufactured into cans, which is where the sixty day cycle ends.
To avoid contaminants in the early stages, recyclers need to be aware of a few things. Aluminum soda and beer cans are acceptable for recycling for both major companies; most food cans use steel, which are generally acceptable as well in their own mix. At most places aluminum foil is acceptable, but most of our aluminum foil is soiled with melted cheese or birthday cake frosting, which makes it unacceptable. Make sure you rinse all your aluminum products before throwing them into the recycling bin. It is also good to check with your local recycling company to see what their guidelines are.
According to recycleproject.org, more than fifty percent of all aluminum produced in the US is recycled, and this number will grow once people are educated about the benefits of recycling cans and other aluminum products. Currently we are throwing away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet every three hours, according to grist.org. Spread the word and start recycling your aluminum.
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