Tins and cans

Can Recycling

What it is?
Cans have been around for over 200 years. The first cans were made from steel and were used to preserve food so that it could be transported without going off.

Food tins and drinks cans are actually made from different metals. Despite being called ‘tins’, food tins are made using steel, which is a mixture of iron and carbon. Drinks cans are made using aluminium which is made from bauxite. Bauxite, iron and carbon are all found in rocks which need to be mined from under ground and this takes lots of energy.

Can it be recycled?
Yes!

How is it recycled?
Steel food tins and aluminium drinks cans are often collected for recycling together even though they are different metals. However, these metals can be separated easily by passing a large magnet over them - the steel cans are attracted to the magnet and so can be lifted out of the pile. Then the different metals are baled and sent to reprocessing factories where they can be recycled. Metals can be recycled again and again making huge energy savings every time.  

Steel food tins
Steel cans are heated to 1700 degrees C in a furnace and other metals such as molten (liquid) iron are added. The hot steel is then cast into solid slabs, which can be rolled into sheets of different thicknesses. These sheets can then be used to make more steel cans or other steel items, such as cars, trains and bridges.
Click here for fun steel related fun  http://www.scrib.org/education_zone/kids_zone/kids_zone.asp

Aluminium drinks cans
Aluminium cans are shredded, then very hot air is used to clean off all the colour on the outside. Next they are heated to 750 degrees C and the molten (liquid) aluminium is poured into moulds to make ingots (a brick shape that is used to transport metal easily). These are then sold to companies who make them into new products such as car and plane parts, or new drinks cans.

Why should we recycle tins and cans?
Resources

By recycling our aluminium cans, new bauxite does not need to be mined from rocks  underground. This means that our natural resources are conserved (made to last longer) for future generations (our children and our children’s children). It takes 5 tonnes of bauxite to make 1 tonne of aluminium metal.

The Environment

The process of mining often destroys or damages natural habitats.

Energy

Recycling an aluminium can saves 95% of the energy that it would take to produce the aluminium from the raw resources!  

Where should we recycle our tins and cans?
Cans are collected from our homes by recycling lorries or from recycling banks by your local council. Check your local collection system here

Did You Know?
A can you put into a recycling box today may be recycled, made into a new can, filled with liquid and put back on sale within six weeks!

Steel cans
Each household uses approximately 600 steel cans per year
Steel is the only common metal that will stick to a magnet
All steel cans contain up to 50% recycled steel
Recycling seven steel cans saves enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 26 hours

Aluminium cans
A recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television for 3 hours!

There would be 12 million less full dustbins each year in the UK if all aluminium drinks cans were recycled!

Recycling aluminium uses only 5% of the power needed to make aluminium from raw materials.  In other words, 20 cans from recycled aluminium use the same power as just 1 can made from new aluminium!

A recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.

Aluminium is valuable. The recyclable aluminium in the UK is worth £40 million. It is roughly worth 10 times more than that of steel.