What is Answerbag?

Ask questions and share your knowledge with the world here on Answerbag. Get the best answers where there are no duplicate questions and questions are always open - our community of over 1,142,000 will find your answer!

Join For Free!
 

How Does Aluminum Get Ret Recycled Into Other Objects?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Related Tags: aluminum | recycling | recycled | recycle | process
 

Instructions

How Recycling Happens

  • Step 1:
    While recycling has been around for some time now, it is still a fairly new process. Most people only know that when an aluminum can is recycled it somehow gets turned into a new can. But what exactly goes into the process of recycling aluminum? The most common aluminum material that is recycled and made from recycled aluminum is soda cans. This explanation focuses on that particular process.

Choosing to Recycle

  • Step 1:
    The first step, of course, is the obvious choice made by the consumer of aluminum goods to recycle the used material. For some people it is an everyday thing, and for others the choice to recycle anything, much less an aluminum can, is daunting and considered impractical. Many states and localities throughout the country have tried numerous methods to help people get to the 100 percent level of recycling through different measures.

Getting the Aluminum to the Recycling Center

  • Step 1:
    The second step in the cyclic aluminum recycling process is making sure that aluminum gets to the recycling center. Some communities provide recycling bins and pick-up services, and in some of these communities recycling is mandatory by law. Each recycling bin is used to recycle a different material, such as paper, glass or aluminum. When the recycling company comes and picks up the bins, they ship them off to the recycling center.

Recycling the Aluminum

  • Step 1:
    The next step in the recycling aluminum process is to turn the used aluminum into bricks. This step is completed by a compactor similar to what you would find in a junk yard where cars are being smashed down. However, these bricks are not the size of a brick used to build a building. These are much larger in size--about 1,000 lbs. or more. This makes for easier and more efficient movement of the material from one location to another. These bricks are melted down in order to proceed to the following step.

The Old Into New

  • Step 1:
    Last is the process of creating new aluminum items. First, the aluminum must be burned in order to eliminate its non-aluminum content. From there, they are cut into almost bite-sized pieces and are melted together with new aluminum. From there the aluminum is poured into a mechanism called an ingot. It is here where the combined new and recycled aluminum material is rolled into extremely thin sheets. These sheets are received by the companies who create the soda cans we all drink out of.

Related Content
How to Get Started Recycling
The Unites States produces over 251 million tons of trash each year. Only about 32 percent of that is recycled. As you fill your trash bags each week, you may think that a single individual or...
How Does a Recycling Center Operate?
Instructions Recycling: An Overview Step 1: A recycling center works by first separating all the materials that enter the center into one of three categories: paper, metal or plastic. Once the...
Advantages of a Recycle Bin
Recycling is a morally responsible decision that is easy to organize if you have a recycling bin. If you recycle materials such as bottles and cans, you may be able to exchange them for money at...
Steps to Recycle Glass
Due to the purity of the ingredients and the quick turnaround of recycling, glass is one of the simplest and most popular recycled materials. Glass products actually begin as readily-available...
How Does Recycling Work?
Instructions Recycling Basics Step 1: Curbside collecting of recyclable materials is the most common way for facilities to get the goods into the recycling plants in the United States. Exceptions...