Aluminum foil recycle recommendations? Aluminum Recycling Helps Local Communities: Every year, the aluminum industry pays out close to a billion dollars for recycled aluminum cans — money that can go to support organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, as well as local schools and churches that sponsor can drive or ongoing aluminum recycling programs. How to Increase Aluminum Recycling: One simple and effective way to increase aluminum recycling is for governments to require consumers to pay a refundable deposit on all beverage containers sold in their jurisdictions. U.S. states that have container deposit laws (or “bottle bills”) recycle between 75% and 95% of all aluminum cans sold. States without deposit laws only recycle about 35% of their aluminum cans.
If you live in Seattle, San Antonio or Richmond (VA), you will need to find another way to recycle your aluminum foil. Before placing any foil in your recycling bin, crumple it into a ball so it will not get torn or stuck in the recycling machinery. Do not take each individual piece and ball it up so that you have several tiny spheres. Instead, save up your aluminum foil and make a ball that is at least two inches in diameter. And again, make sure it is clean before you place it in your recycling bin.
What about aluminum pie plates and trays? If your local recycling program accepts aluminum foil, it will most often accept other aluminum food storage products. You’ll want to make sure these items are rinsed first, though. How is aluminum foil recycled? First, aluminum of all types must be separated from steel using an eddy current in a materials recovery facility. The aluminum is crushed and baled, then sent to a metal recycler. At this point, the aluminum is cleaned and melted into sheets of aluminum, where it can be manufactured into aluminum cans or foil products. Find additional info on is aluminum foil recyclable.
While most recycled aluminum is in the form of cans, aluminum foil is technically recyclable, but there’s a catch: It needs to be clean — that is, free of food residue, as grease or food residue can contaminate the other recyclables during the recycling process. In part because of the issues with contamination, and the reality that most people are unlikely to rinse their aluminum foil before recycling it, some waste haulers will not accept aluminum foil for recycling; the damage soiled aluminum foil does to other recyclables can outweigh the benefit of trying to recycle the aluminum foil.
Recycling Aluminum Reduces Your Carbon Footprint! Increasing environmental awareness and growing social responsibility have also driven the recent upsurge in aluminum recycling (see References 4). Recycling aluminum prevents more than 90 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year (see References 3). Recycling a single aluminum can avoids carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to a one-mile car ride and saves enough energy to power a television for about three hours. See even more information at https://www.ablison.com/how-to-recycle-aluminum-foil-and-is-it-biodegradable/.