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By: Harry Browar

Cans, foil, and other items such as trays are made out of aluminium. In North America one of the major product being recycled is aluminium. Though Americans recycle about 65-70% of the aluminium used in their household, thousands of tons of this is discarded each year.

People tend to think of pop cans as the only item to recycle. Actually, there are hundreds of other items made from this particular metal. Even large items like lawn furniture qualify. If you have something you're not sure about, give your local recycling center a call.

Aluminum recycling is actually an interesting process. First the items are collected from the different recycling centers and transported to a scrap metal plant.

When the aluminum gets there it is sorted and then crushed into slabs. Any labels or coating on the cans or other pieces will be taken care of at their next stop, the aluminum company.

The aluminum company shreds and crushes the slabs. All the labels and coatings are removed at this point. New aluminum is added to the recycled, and they are melted together. Most aluminum that we buy contains about 50% recycled product.

Aluminum can be formed into any shape once it's been melted. The process differs according to product, but in general it sounds pretty easy, doesn't it?

Aluminium is readily available on earth and there is no possibility of exhausting this resource in the near future. Hence, it is important to know as to why should we recycle aluminium. New aluminium requires much more energy to produce than recycling aluminium. The other key factor is the waste, which will be created in case not recycled.

North Americans produce an enormous amount of waste each year. And where does it all go? Landfills are filling up and we are running out of places to put our waste. Not only that, but waste is very harmful to indigenous flora and fauna that live in the areas that we have decided to use for our landfills.

To get more people to recycle aluminum, companies might consider deposits. When we buy a can, we usually are paying a deposit built into its price. If we want that deposit back, we must return the can. It then enters the cycle of going to a recycling center and then on to be processed.

Recycling is good for everybody as it lessens waste accumulation, saves energy, and creates jobs. A lot of people are more environmentally conscious than ever before, but there are still a number of them who don't think about it or decide it's too much trouble. They are still just tossing used aluminum cans and other recyclables.

In case there is no recycling program in your locality then it is a good idea to start an environmental group and take up aluminium recycling as a start up scheme. Once you do that you will notice that many people and local businesses are interested in the project.

Article Source: http://www.energyefficienthomearticles.com

Harry Browar is the owner of First Alluminum, the #1 source on the internet for information about alluminum, For more articles on alluminum why not visit: www.firstaluminum.com/articles
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