Recycling Facts

Aluminum

A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days. That’s closed loop recycling at its finest!
Aluminum is a sustainable metal and can be recycled over and over again.
Over 50 percent of the aluminum cans produced are recycled.
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for almost four hours or run your television for three hours.
Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can’s volume of gasoline.
In 1972, it took about 22 empty, aluminum cans to weigh one pound. Due to advanced technology to use less material and increase durability of aluminum cans, in 2002 it takes about 34 empty aluminum cans to weigh one pound.
Used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item in the U.S., but other types of aluminum, such as siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames, and lawn furniture can also be recycled.
Recycling aluminum uses 95 percent less energy than producing aluminum using raw materials.

Brass

Most keys are made from yellow brass.
Copper is the base element found in brass and alloyed with a high percentage of zinc.

Copper

Copper is 100 percent recyclable.
Copper can be considered a "renewable" resource because it can be recycled without any loss of quality (chemical or physical properties).
Much of the copper used in the world comes from recycled sources.
Assuming an average life span of 30 years for most copper products, copper's true recycling rate has been calculated to be about 80-85 percent.
Almost 40 percent of the world’s demand for copper is met using recycled material.
Recycled copper is worth up to 90 percent of the cost of the original copper.

Lead Acid Batteries

The lead-acid battery gains its environmental edge from its closed-loop life cycle.
The recycling cycle for lead acid batteries goes on indefinitely.
More than 97 percent of all battery lead is recycled.
Car batteries have the highest recycling rate out of all recycled materials.
About 60 percent of the world’s lead comes from recycled car batteries.
New lead-acid batteries are composed of 60-80 percent recycled lead and plastic.
Lead-acid batteries use over 80 percent of the lead produced in the U.S.

Stainless Steel

Any stainless steel object has an average recycled content of about 60 percent.
Stainless steel is recycled without any degradation.
Approximately 90 percent of end-of-life stainless steel is collected and recycled into new products.
Stainless steel is 100 percent recyclable.

Steel

The steel industry’s largest source of raw material is scrap metal, which is commonly collected by recycling steel.
Recycling steel saves 75 percent of the energy that would be used to create steel from raw materials, enough to power 18 million homes.
Over 65 percent of the steel produced in the U.S. is recycled into new steel every year.
One ton of recycled steel saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone.
Mining wastes, air pollution, and water pollution are reduced by about 70 percent when a steel mill uses recycled metal scraps.
Recycling one ton of steel scrap saves more than 80 percent of the CO2 emmisions produced when making steel from iron ore.

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