Be in the know...Facts about Aluminum Can Recyling

• 35,000 aluminum cans are produced every minute.
• 99% of all beer cans and 97% of all soft drink cans are made of aluminum.
• It takes 500 years for aluminum to break down.
• Approximately 65.5% of aluminum containers are recycled in the U.S.
• There is no limit to the amount of times aluminum can be recycled.
• Aluminum manufacturers have been making cans lighter. In 1972 it took 22 cans to make a pound. Today, it takes 29 cans to make a pound.
• Recycling is so efficient that it can take as few as 60 days for an aluminum can to be collected, melted down, and made into a new can sitting on a supermarket shelf.
• If we recycled all of the aluminum trash that Americans throw away, we can rebuild the entire United States' airline fleet every three months.
• Recycling one aluminum can save enough energy to run a television for three hours.
• Every aluminum beverage can has an average of 54.7% recycled content.
• Recycling your aluminum can requires 95% less energy than that required from making a new one with bauxite ore.

Sources: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/society/critters.html;

http://www.usu.edu/recycle/factsFigures.htm