Aluminum foil recycle tips from ablison.com? Globally, about 23 billion kWh are squandered every year, just as a result of trashing or incinerating aluminum cans. The aluminum industry uses almost 300 billion kWh of electricity annually, about 3% of the world’s total electricity consumption. A little less than half of all aluminum cans sold each year — in the United States and worldwide — are recycled and turned into new aluminum cans and other products. Some countries do very well: Switzerland, Norway, Finland, and Germany all recycle more than 90% of all aluminum beverage containers.
Keep in mind that several food products come with aluminum foil attached. Many yogurt containers have aluminum foil over the lids. K-cups also have aluminum foil lids. If you can recycle sheets of aluminum foil, chances are high you can recycle these items as well. Check with your recycling company to see if they can take other types of clean aluminum food storage products, like pie pans and turkey roasters, too. I reuse my clean aluminum foil whenever possible. Pieces with absolutely no food on them get folded up and put in the fridge until I need them next time. Pieces with food on them stay on my large pan until I am ready to put leftovers on a smaller plate. At that point, the foil can still be used to cover the plate.
What about aluminum pie plates and trays? If your local recycling program accepts aluminum foil, it will most often accept other aluminum food storage products. You’ll want to make sure these items are rinsed first, though. How is aluminum foil recycled? First, aluminum of all types must be separated from steel using an eddy current in a materials recovery facility. The aluminum is crushed and baled, then sent to a metal recycler. At this point, the aluminum is cleaned and melted into sheets of aluminum, where it can be manufactured into aluminum cans or foil products. Read additional details at is aluminum biodegradable.
If you are able to recycle your aluminum foil locally, pat yourself on the back: Recycled aluminum saves more than 90 percent of the energy needed to produce virgin aluminum, and it’s one of the most valuable recyclable materials. Its recycling lifecycle is also relatively quick: An aluminum can that’s put in a recycling bin can be back on the shelves, as another can, in as little as two months. You can even buy aluminum foil that is made of recycled aluminum.
Recycling Aluminum Makes Use of a Valuable Commodity! According to the International Aluminum Institute, aluminum is infinitely recyclable. Of the 1 billion tons of aluminum ever produced, about 75 percent of that is still in use. Aluminum cans are by far the most valuable items in the municipal waste stream — the value of the recovered aluminum in 2011 more than covers the cost of collection and processing . Because of this, recycling aluminum cans helps to subsidize the collection of a wide variety of other recyclable materials. See even more details on https://www.ablison.com/how-to-recycle-aluminum-foil-and-is-it-biodegradable/.