Aluminum, Steel & Tin Cans

Acceptable Materials

  • Aluminum Bottles and Cans
  • Steel, Tin and Bi-Metal Cans

Prepare for Discarding - Place in Single Stream Recycling Container

  • Empty and Rinse
  • Labels can remain on cans.
  • All metal cans must be empty
  • Cut out ends and flatten (do not puncture aerosols)

Do Not Recycle in Single Stream Containers

  • Empty Aerosol Cans
  • Aluminum Pans or Foil
  • Empty Paint Cans
  • Large/Bulky Scrap Metal Items

Aluminum & Steel Can Recycling Facts

  • The average aluminum can in the U.S. contains 40% post-consumer recycled aluminum.
  • It requires only 5% as much energy when a can is made of recycled aluminum as compared to virgin ore.
  • The lifespan of an aluminum can is 6 weeks on average: that means that the time it takes for a beverage can to be manufactured, filled, sold, recycled and remanufactured is 6 weeks on average.
  • In 1994, approximately 53.1% of all steel cans and 27.8% of steel packaging materials, such as strapping, were recycled.
  • The average American uses 142 steel cans per year.
  • Tin cans are actually 99% steel with a thin layer of tin added to prevent rusting.
  • One hundred million aluminum beverage cans are landfilled, littered or incinerated every day in the U.S. which is more than 500,000 tons of aluminum cans annually worth more than $600 million.