Fun Facts

Aluminum Can		Fun Facts

wenty-nine years ago, a brand new industry was getting its start -- the aluminum can recycling industry. Since then, its showcase container -- the aluminum beverage can -- has come to be known as America's most recyclable package. Consider the following:

It is estimated that since 1972 some 16 million tons of aluminum cans have been recycled. These 785.6 billion aluminum cans placed end-to-end could stretch to the moon more than 249 times.
In 1996, Americans recycled 62.8 billion beverage cans. The package reached a 63.5 percent recycling rate, a national recycling rate of two out of three cans.
In 1972, 53 million pounds of aluminum cans were recycled. Today, we exceed that amount weekly.
Some 119,482 cans are recycled every minute nationwide.
According to the U.S. EPA, aluminum cans represent less than 1 percent (0.9 percent) of the nation's solid waste stream.
Used aluminum cans are recycled and returned to store shelves as new cans in as few as 60 days.
The weight of aluminum cans recycled in 1996 was equal to the weight of 14 aircraft carriers -- 983,709 tons.
Recycling saves 95 percent of the energy required to make aluminum cans from virgin ore. In 1995, aluminum companies saved the equivalent of over 20.6 million barrels of oil -- or 12.3 billion kilowatt hours by recycling. This represents enough energy to supply the electrical needs of a city the size of Pittsburgh for about six years.
The aluminum industry operates a coast-to-coast network of 10,000 buy-back locations nationwide and cooperates with more than 7,945 cities and counties with municipal or curbside recycling programs. This infra-structure makes it easy for Americans to redeem their used aluminum beverage cans for cash.
Aluminum cans have tremendous value. In 1996, Americans earned $1.08 billion by recycling aluminum cans. Since 1972, Americans have earned almost $8.9 billion by recycling aluminum cans.

(Lightweighting)

Packaging manufacturers conserve natural resources through source reduction, which means using less material in the manufacture of a package. This is also called "lightweighting" a package. Cans are an excellent example of voluntary source reduction because the can industry has made great efforts to reduce the amount of aluminum to make a beverage can. For example:

Twenty-four years ago, one pound of aluminum made 21.75 12-ounce cans. By developing new technologies to reduce the can's weight, the industry now produces an average of 31.92 cans from every pound of aluminum.
The weight reduction continues through the use of smaller can ends. The can manufacturing industry once used the "206" end universally, which weighs (including the tab) an average of 8.5 pounds per thousand. Today, the industry has moved towards "204" and "202" ends, which are considerably smaller and use far less material to manufacture. In fact, the "202" end weighs an average of 6.11 pounds per thousand.