Recycling aluminium uses only around five per cent of the energy and emissions needed to make it from the raw material bauxite, and as the metal can be recycled time and time again without loss of properties, getting the aluminium recycling habit is one of the best things we can do for the environment.
Aluminium drinks cans are collected by almost all local authorities, and increasingly aluminium foil - such as clean ready meal trays, dairy lidding, chocolate foil and wrapping and cooking foil - is also collected.
The UK has a 'closed-loop' aluminium drinks can recycling plant which turns used cans into slabs of aluminium which are exactly the right specification to make new cans.
The process is to:
- Shred the whole cans, removing any coloured coating
- Melt the shreds in a huge furnace
- Pour the molten metal into ingot casts to set. Each ingot can be made into around 1.5m cans.
Aluminium foil is a different alloy, and is usually recycled with other aluminium scraps to make cast items such as engine components, where it makes a big contribution to making vehicles lighter and more energy efficient.
