How to recycle 3.5 billion cans in only six weeks
We recycle enough aluminium cans in the UK to encircle the planet – yes, the planet! – over ten times. Jeepers creepers that’s enough circling to make the Earth’s population very, very dizzy! But how do we actually recycle these cans? Here’s how it all happens right from your black bin all the way back to the shelf in the shop:
First, all the various types of cans are separated, mostly using a mixture of hands and magnets. With the steel cans gone, that only leaves the aluminium ones. They’re shredded into small pieces and dropped into a furnace and heated to over 700 degrees Celsius. The resultant liquid metal is flattened, cooled and rolled up ready to be pressed into the shape of, you guessed it, a new can! Pretty neat huh?