Aluminum foil recyclable recommendations? How serious is the problem? More than 100 billion aluminum cans are sold in the United States each year, but less than half are recycled. A similar number of aluminum cans in other countries are also incinerated or sent to landfills. That adds up to about 1.5 million tons of wasted aluminum cans worldwide every year. All of those trashed cans have to be replaced with new cans made entirely from virgin materials, which wastes energy and causes extensive environmental damage.
Aluminum foil is something many of us use (or overuse) when covering dishes of food, cooking, etc. But once you’re finished, can it be recycled? Cans, furniture and other products made from aluminum are very easy to recycle. In fact, aluminum and other metals are among the easiest items to recycle because they can be melted and turned back into new products almost indefinitely. It is highly energy and resource intensive to create new aluminum, so it is definitely worth recycling the metal whenever possible. One of the biggest departures from the “aluminum is easy to recycle” rule is aluminum foil.
Can I recycle aluminum foil in my curbside recycling program? While most cities will accept aluminum cans at the curb, you’ll want to verify acceptance of aluminum foil. The risks of contamination will often make it undesirable for local recyclers. What is the difference between aluminum foil and tin foil? There is none. All foil has been made of aluminum since World War II, and the name “tin foil” is still mistakenly used to describe aluminum foil. Discover extra details on can i recycle aluminum foil.
Before you put your foil in the recycling bin, make sure your local recycling program accepts it; not all of them do. Incidentally, usually if foil is accepted, disposable aluminum baking pans also will be. Just be sure to only recycle aluminum foil that is clean, even if it means rinsing it off first. (And as long as you’re cleaning it, you might as well reuse it a couple of times first!)
The global demand for aluminum, however, continues to increase. Manufacturers currently use about 35 percent of recovered aluminum and about 65 percent of primary aluminum to meet their needs. While Americans recycled 57.4 percent of aluminum in 2009, the industry has a self-imposed goal of a 75 percent recycling rate. By working with local communities, authorities and society as a whole, the aluminum industry is hoping to encourage more recycling in order to satisfy increased demand. Read additional information on https://www.ablison.com/how-to-recycle-aluminum-foil-and-is-it-biodegradable/.
