Material Recycling

The Aluminum Beverage Can

It's almost impossible to hear the word aluminum and not think about beverage cans. In fact, currently 100% of all beverage cans are made from aluminum. Aluminum cans made their first appearance in America in 1953 and by the late 1960's were being recycled in earnest. However, the greatest use of Aluminum is in the auto industry where almost 6 billion pounds are currently used.

Aluminum Recycling in the U.S.:

Total U.S. supply is 20.8 billion pounds. We use about 392 cans per person. 66 Billion or 63.5 % of aluminum cans are recycled annually.
Aluminum cans typically have a recycled aluminum content of about 55%. Recycling aluminum saves about 95% of the energy it would take to produce aluminum from its original source, bauxite. Aluminum recycling is so efficient that it can take as few as 60 days for a can to be collected, melted down and made into a new can sitting on a grocery store shelf.

• It takes energy to make aluminum from scratch. The energy you save by recycling a single aluminum can power a TV for three hours.
• In fact, it takes 95% less energy to make aluminum from bauxite ore than to recycle old aluminum into new.
• Aluminum beverage cans are getting lighter. Twenty years ago, a pound of aluminum made about twenty cans. Today, the same amount of aluminum makes approximately thirty cans. The thickness of the side of an aluminum can is about the same as that of a human hair.
• It takes about 400 years for aluminum to break down naturally. That Coke can you just drank from will probably still look about the same in another century or two.
• With all the industries that use aluminum—in manufacturing, in packaging, in cars and airplanes—the industry that uses the most aluminum is the beverage industry.
• In 2008, Americans recycled enough aluminum to build thirteen aircraft carriers.
• Every three months, Americans discard enough aluminum to completely rebuild every single commercial airplane in America.
• Approximately 350,000 aluminum cans are made in a minute.
• Aluminum can be recycled over and over without breaking down. In theory, we have an inexhaustible supply of it in circulation right now. If we recycled all our aluminum, we’d never have to make more.
• The average American discarded fourteen and a half pounds of aluminum just from packaging last year—and almost three pounds of aluminum foil. That’s not even counting aluminum cans.
• Most people don’t realize how strong a metal aluminum is. Four six packs can support the weight of a 4,000-lb. aluminum car.
• Aluminum has a phenomenally high melting point—1,220ºF, to be exact.
• A long time ago, aluminum was a much more valuable metal than gold or silver.
• The aluminum in one single soda can is worth about a cent. Americans threw away millions of cans last year. The American government could pay off a significant portion of its debt with a few years’ worth of aluminum cans.
• Four pounds of raw bauxite ore is saved for every pound of aluminum that is reclaimed in the recycling process.
• The aluminum Americans throw away each year is enough to provide the auto industry with all the raw material it needs to build a year’s worth of new cars.
• Because our landfills are so full of aluminum cans, some landfills incinerate extra aluminum. This isn’t just a huge waste; it also pours toxic metals and gases into the atmosphere.
• Aluminum is valuable. It’s still very much in demand, and recycled aluminum is just as useful and desirable as new. In fact, aluminum is the only recyclable material that depots can recoup their recycling costs with.
• Making aluminum from bauxite ore is a dirty process—and burning it is even worse. By doubling our aluminum recycling rate, we could cut a million tons of pollutants per year out of the atmosphere.
• Recycling aluminum isn’t just about collecting cans. You can also recycle old siding, clean aluminum foil, car hoods and even the gutters on your roof. Most recycling depots that take cans will also take these materials.
• Every part of the can is reusable—you don’t have to prepare it in any way, other than to rinse it out.
• In 2006, aluminum manufacturers saved enough energy by recycling aluminum instead of creating it from bauxite ore to power a city the size of Pittsburg for six years or so.
http://www.aluminum.org
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Aluminum – materials

2011 Aluminum
2011 is the most useable of the commonly available aluminum alloys. Machining this alloy can produce excellent surface finishes on your product, and small, broken chips.

2024 Aluminum
Copper is the main alloying ingredient in 2024. It is very strong compared to most aluminum alloys, the copper component of this alloy makes it susceptible to corrosion (many items in this alloy are produced with a clad surface to protect the underlying material.) In addition, 2024 is not considered to be weldable.

5052 Aluminum
5052 is the alloy most suited to forming operations, with good workability and higher strength than that of the 1100 or
3003 alloys that are commercially available. 5052 is not heat-treatable, but is stronger than most of the 5xxx series of alloys. It has very good corrosion resistance.

6061 Aluminum
6061 Aluminum is, by most any measure, the most commonly used aluminum alloy. It is specified in most any application due to its strength, heat treatability, comparatively easy machining, and weldability. If that were not
enough, it is also capable of being anodized, adding a layer of protection for finished parts. The main alloy ingredients of 6061 aluminum are magnesium and silicon.

6063 Aluminum
6063 is often called architectural aluminum for two reasons - first, it has a surface finish that is far smoother than the other commercially available alloys, and second, its strength is significantly less (roughly half the strength of 6061), making it suited for applications where strength is not the foremost

6262 Aluminum
6262 was designed as an aluminum alloy for operations where significant machining is required. It contains lead and bismuth to help with chip creation and breakage, as well as to partially lubricate the cutting tool.

7075 Aluminum
7075 is the other "aircraft grade" aluminum. Its principal alloying ingredients are Zinc and copper, which make it one of the highest-strength aluminum alloys that are available. In fact, it’s typical strength in the T6 temper is higher than most mild steels

Cast Aluminum - is a specific metal that has gone through one of the several processes known as ‘casting.’ Essentially, cast aluminum is created when methods such as die casting, mold casting, or sand casting are used to temper the aluminum for use in creating components for many different types of
products. Cast aluminum is used for a number of items around the house, as well as machinery and other products that are necessary to the manufacturing of a wide range of goods and services.

Extruded Aluminum - are made by squeezing heated aluminum compound through a die with a profile of the desired shape. Extrusions are typically long lengths of the fixed profile. The construction and automobile industries are two of the biggest consumers of extruded aluminum, requiring door and window frames, structural framing systems, roofing, exterior cladding, and so on. The extrusion process is considered to be the most effective way to fabricate parts that need to have a uniform cross-sectional area. Extruders can provide both custom and stock shapes based on the customers' requirements. Learn more about aluminum extrusions.

Sheet Aluminum - is widely used for stampings, spun and drawn parts and products, cooking utensils, chemical equipment, builders hardware, storage tanks, truck and trailer components, mail boxes, cabinets, fan blades, awnings, siding, kitchen equipment, decorative trim, architectural uses, signage applications,

5052 - is widely used for cooking utensils, food processing equipment, storage tanks, truck and trailer components, mail boxes, aircraft components, electronic chassis, boat hulls, deck houses, hatch covers, pressure vessels, ladders, railings, frames, drip pans, tool boxes, truck bumpers, inner and outer body panels and components in truck and auto industries, kitchen equipment, decorative trim, architectural uses, signage applications, and any number of parts and application requiring strength and good formability at reasonable cost.

6061- is commonly used for structural components, frames, brackets, jigs, fixtures, base plates, machine parts, hydraulic valve bodies, valves parts, fuse parts, gears, worm gears, rectifier parts, fasteners, truck and marine components, marine fittings and hardware, electrical fittings and connectors, hinge pins, magneto parts, appliance fittings.

What Do We Buy?
We buy a variety of different types and grades of scrap metals. Each grade or category has a different price. Call for daily pricing. The
purpose of this guide is to help you determine what type or category you may have and how to best prepare it for recycling.

Copper
Bright & Shiny Copper
Bare Bright

Copper wire that is not corroded or burned and must be shiny in its appearance. No contamination in any form. Must be thicker than a pencil lead. (10 Ga.)

#1 Copper

Clean uncontaminated with no paint, solder, insulation, dirt, etc. Can be tubing or wire. Wire must be bare and thicker than a pencil lead.

#2 Copper

Copper that has paint, dirt, solder, corrosion, etc. Insulated copper is not accepted as #2 copper. Can be tubing or wire. Bare wire under pencil lead thickness is accepted.

Insulated #1 Wire

Insulated Copper wire that is 16 gage or thicker (1/16 inch). If wire is stranded, each wire must be 1/16” or thicker. Must have a copper recovery of 70% or more.

Insulated #2 Wire

Insulated Copper wire smaller than 16 gage (1/16 inch) and has a copper recovery of 55% - 69%. The copper wire may be coated by tin or nickel. All stranded wire smaller than 1/16”.

Insulated #3 Wire

Copper wire that is at least ½” thick with one layer of rubber or plastic insulation with connections and plugs, CATV wire and Christmas Lights

Aluminum BX Cable

Aluminum BX Cable shall consist of plastic insulated copper wire, armor coated with an Aluminum casing.

Aluminum

Aluminum Cans

Any aluminum beverage container that has been emptied of its contents and is uncontaminated in any form.

Aluminum Extrusion

Consisting of window frames, door frames, structural type aluminum, with no contamination i.e., nails screws, staples, putty, paint, weather stripping, foam, etc. Must be 6063 series aluminum.

Painted Alum Extrusion

Same as regular extruded aluminum, however, may contain small amounts of paint, caulking, weather stripping, dirt, etc.

Aluminum (MLC)

Most common grade of aluminum. Mixture of various alum alloys. Consists of plate, bar, solids, chunks or machined parts. Must be free of contamination, paint, nails, screws, etc.

Painted (MLC) Aluminum

Same as regular MLC, however, may contain small amounts of paint, caulk or coatings.

Aluminum Siding / Sheet Aluminum

Thin aluminum house siding, rain gutters, fascia, ect… May have paint but must be free of staples, nails or other contaminates.

Aluminum insulated wire

Insulated Aluminum Wire shall include plastic insulated aluminum wire, must be free of iron.

ACSR

Aluminum Conductors (Cable) Steel-Reinforced

Aluminum Rims

Usually a 6061 alloy and found on most modern cars. Aluminum wheels that are cast grade from cars and pickups. They must have the tires, lead wheel weights and the valve stem removed

Radiators, Heater Cores

Radiators from vehicles are a valuable recyclable. the most common materials used in the production of radiators is aluminum, older model radiators where produced from brass and copper. Heater

Stainless Steel

Stainless Steel typically is recycled in 2 forms. The preferred is clean and free from other materials, the most common has other materials attached to it, Commonly in the form of sinks, food service equipment and cookware

Brass

Yellow Brass

Brass that has a yellow look in appearance. Commonly valves, faucets, figurines. No Contamination. Free of iron, paint, plastic, washers, glass, etc.

Red Brass

Brass that looks reddish in appearance. Has a higher copper content. Commonly valves, meters, faucets. No Contamination. Free of iron, paint, plastic, washers, glass, etc. (78% – 82% Copper)

Batteries