According to the National Energy Education Development Project, Americans consume 100 million cans of steel and 200 millions cans of aluminum every day. The country could be drowning in metal without metal recycling.

There are three options: the metal can either be recycled or burned at waste-to energy plants. Recycling is the best option to reduce the amount of aluminum and steel that’s wasted, more info?

Aluminum and Steel Recycling

Aluminum is only found in combinations with other metals. Aluminum is combined with other elements in a reduction or smelter to form a very hard substance called alumina. The aluminum is then dissolved (or melted) in liquid salt in large pots. The liquid is pumped with a powerful current that separates aluminum from oxygen. Electrical energy is used throughout the entire reduction process.

The energy required to make aluminum using recycled aluminum waste is much lower. According to the National Energy Education Development Project, the National Energy Education Development Project, recycling 4 aluminum cans is equivalent to saving the energy of 1 cup gasoline. Aluminum’s high value is due to this energy reduction. By using recycled aluminum, manufacturers can save energy as well as money.

Recycling Aluminium

Cans that are brought by the consumer to an aluminum scrap yard or grocery shop begin the recycling cycle. The aluminum then moves to a recycler. The aluminum is then shredded, melted, and formed into an ingot or molten aluminium. The ingots can be shaped into sheets of aluminum or any other form. The aluminum can then be made into new cans, and the process begins all over again.

Recycling Steel

The United States is home to the largest recycling industry in the world. Steel scraps from automobiles, appliances and buildings that have been torn down and reconstructed are the most abundant source of this material. Recycled steel is 60 percent more energy efficient than iron ore. Therefore, almost all steel products today are manufactured with recycled steel.

The process of recycling steel cans is almost identical to that used for aluminum cans. Steel scrap collected at recycling centers or waste to energy plants is sent by a scrap dealer or processor.

Steel scraps are melted and then fed into rollers, which continuously flatten and roll the steel. Steel scrap is recycled into a variety of products such as cars, building girders, and food cans. Steel cans, and steel-based products, are at least 25% recycled in the U.S. Some steel products even contain nearly 100% recycled steel.