Facts About Recycling Metal
2. 42% of crude steel is made from recycled material.
3. The aluminum can is the most recycled consumer product in the United States.
4. The aluminum beverage can industry uses more aluminum than any other industry.
5. Roughly 70% of all metal is used only once and then thrown away. The remaining 30% is recycled. After 5 cycles only .25% (one quarter of one percent) of the original metal remains in circulation.
6. When you throw away an aluminum can you are wasting the equivalent amount of energy of filling up that same can with gasoline and pouring it on the ground.
7. In as little as 60 days a recycled aluminum can be back on the supermarket shelf as a new can.
8. In the United States over 100 million tin and steel cans are used every day.
9. Mining wastes, air pollution, and water pollution are reduced by about 70% when a steel mill uses recycled metal scraps.
10. Huge magnets collect millions of steel cans every day by pulling them out of garbage.
11. Over 60% of all cans in a supermarket are made of steel.
Sources
The information on this page has been compiled from various sources including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Worldwatch Institute, the American Forest and Paper Association, and the National Recycling Coalition.
