When you drink a cold beverage from an aluminum can, you don’t just satisfy your thirst. You also hold the potential and the challenge of recycling right there in your hand.
Nearly 60 percent of aluminum beverage cans get recycled, more than double the recycling rate for any other beverage container. Because aluminum cans are so perfectly suited for recycling, many aluminum-industry leaders and environmental advocates believe the recycling rate should be even higher.
Q: What makes aluminum cans so recyclable?
A: When many materials are recycled, they actually get “down-cycled,” or turned into a product or packaging of less value than the original item. Aluminum cans, however, can be recycled an infinite number of times into new cans.
By using beverage cans and other recycled aluminum as a feedstock, the aluminum industry conserves resources, reduces greenhouse-gas emissions and saves money. When recycled aluminum isn’t used, bauxite ore must be mined to make new aluminum.
Source: The Seattle Times
By Tom Watson