The actual number of aluminum cans recovered has increased every year since recycling became popular in the early 1970s. Today, more than half of the aluminum beverage cans used in the United States are being recycled. Most of them are recovered in a closed loop system the metal from used cans is melted and recycled to make new aluminum cans.

The Aluminum Association a

Incorporated

900 19th St., N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20006

Phone (202) 862-5100

Telex 710 822 1129
FAX (202) 862-5164

SOLID WASTE, ALUMINUM RECYCLING AND SOURCE REDUCTION

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Aluminum cans represent less than 1 percent of the total
U.S. municipal solid waste stream.
From

"Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United
States, 1960-2000," Franklin Associates, Prairie Village,
Kansas.

The aluminum industry is committed to source reduction and recycling.

Today's aluminum can weighs 30 percent less than its
1972 counterpart.

More than 380 billion aluminum cans (14 billion pounds)
have been diverted from the U.S. municipal solid waste
stream through recycling and reuse in the 1980s.
The aluminum industry recycled 63.6 percent of the
aluminum beverage cans produced in 1990.

Aluminum can recycling continues to expand through a large and growing private sector industry.

An estimated 10,000 aluminum can recycling collection
centers have been created.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals participate in the
aluminum can collection and recycling process.
Consumers are paid between $300 and $500 million per
year for recycling used aluminum beverage cans.
The actual number of aluminum cans recycled has
increased every year since aluminum recycling became
popular in the early 1970s.

The aluminum industry will continue its long-standing private sector recycling and source reduction program. Aluminum recycling saves energy -- a full 95 percent of the energy needed to make new aluminum from virgin materials.

Aluminum recycling reduces the amount of solid waste that must be buried in our landfills.

The aluminum industry will continue its successful efforts to reduce the amount of metal needed to make a can.

The aluminum industry supports public policies that
facilitate private sector recycling.

Each material industry should be primarily responsible
for the recovery and reuse of its own products.
Aluminum should not subsidize the collection and reuse
of materials with less inherent value.

The U.S. aluminum industry is the world's largest, annually shipping about $26 billion in products and exports

U.S. companies produce 22 percent of the world's primary aluminum, the biggest share of any nation. In addition, the aluminum industry annually recycles approximately 5 billion pounds of aluminum scrap.

The U.S. supply of aluminum for 1990 consists of domestic primary production, imports of primary and mill products, and metal recovered from scrap.

The industry's recycling operations, commonly referred to as the "secondary industry" is a major supplier of aluminum to U.S. industry. During the past 10 years, recycled scrap represented about 26 percent of the U.S. total supply of aluminum (excludes in-house scrap).

Aluminum recycling (scrap) data are shown by source,
that is by new and old scrap. New scrap, generated
by plants making end products and old scrap recovered
by metal used by consumers, such as post-consumer
used as cans, automobiles, cooking utensils, etc.

In 1990, the aluminum industry recycled a record 55 billion aluminum beverage cans, representing 63.6 percent of those used by consumers. In 1989, 49 billion cans were recycled, representing 60.8 percent. In 1972, 1.2 billion cans were recycled, representing 15.4 percent

The 1990 U.S. aluminum beverage can recycling rate:

1.934

-Used beverage can scrap (billion lbs.)
-Multiplied by the average # cans per lbs. 28.43
-Total number of cans recycled (billions)
-Divided by # of cans shipped (billions)

The rate:

54.984 86.513

63.6 Percent