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My understanding is that ALUMINUM cans are melted down (and purified) and then (probably by adding to new aluminum ore) smelted into 'fresh' aluminum, that can be used for ANY process or manufacturing that uses aluminum...even potentially into brand new aluminum cans (or aluminum foil, etc.) Processing of Aluminum Ore (?bauxite?) uses HUGE amounts of electricity. I have seen aluminum referred to as "solid electricity" the process requires so much of it. At one point Aluminum was the most expensive metal in the world, even more than gold. That's one reason why the top of the Washington Monument in Washington DC is a block of solid aluminum...as it was so valuable.

Remelting and recycling used aluminum is much more energy efficient than the processing of bauxite ore to obtain aluminum. Recycling not only keeps more materials out of landfills, it saves energy at the same tme!

Steel cans (are there any steel cans any more?) would similarly be recycled by being added along with other steel scrap to blast furnaces smelting iron and steel. As with aluminum, it helps create 'new' steel for all sorts of manufacturing. The car you drive today may have been part of a WWI or WWII battleship, or maybe your dad's or grand-dad's old 57 Chevy. (Although, in the case of the 57 Chevy, it may have been worth more in that configuration than its worth after recycling!)

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15y ago

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