Recycling Aluminium
Many things around us are made from metals, such as Aluminium. Metals are extracted from the earth’s crust. This means that they cannot be put back in again once they are taken out, so they must be recycled to get the most out of them. Recycling aluminium takes only 5% of the energy it uses to make it in the first place.
Did you know that over 50% of the world’s aluminium cans are recycled into and quickly other products?
Each UK household uses over 200 aluminium drink cans every year. These can all be recycled repeatedly, very easily; you may even use the same aluminium more than once in the same year!
How can you tell if it is aluminium? That’s easy! Hold a magnet to a metal can; if it doesn’t stick, it is aluminium.
Here’s how to recycle an aluminium can
Give the inside of the can a quick rinse with water
Put the can into the green recycling box for collection.
If there is no one, could you put it into a carrier bag with the other aluminium cans, ready to be taken to the recycling centre? Supermarkets often have them in the car park.
Simple, now that’s your part over?
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Here is what happens to the cans next.
They are transported to a factory where the recycling process will start.
The metal is then shredded into tiny pieces and blasted with air to remove all the paint and decoration.
The aluminium is then melted in a furnace at 750°C. Now that’s hot!
The molten metal is then poured into moulds to make separate pieces, which are then rolled out and made into cans again.
Did you know that each sheet makes up to 1.5 million cans? That’s a lot of fizzy drinks! Cans go through this process again and again, constantly reusing the materials.
Now that is energy efficient!
