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There are 32 cans per
pound of aluminum, up from 22 in 1972. That's a 47%
improvement!
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99% of all beer cans
and 97% of all soft drink cans are made of aluminum.
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The average aluminum
can in the U.S. contains 40% post-consumer recycled aluminum.
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It requires only 5% as
much energy when a can is made of recycled aluminum as compared to
virgin ore!
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American consumers and
industry throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire U.S.
commercial air fleet every 3 months.
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In 1994, 3.1 million
tons of aluminum waste was generated: aluminum containers and
packaging, such as soft drink and beer cans, contributed 2.1
million tons.
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Aluminum made up 1.5%
of the total municipal solid waste stream generated in the U.S. in
1994.
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Approximately 65.5% of
aluminum containers were recycled in the U.S. in 1994. The overall
rate for aluminum packaging was 55.0%.
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Most aluminum
recovered from the waste stream is used to manufacture new cans.
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The lifespan of an
aluminum can is 6 weeks on average: that means that the time it
takes for a beverage can to be manufactured, filled, sold,
recycled and remanufactured is 6 weeks on average.
