金属回收

In addition to being the most recycled beverage package on the planet, beverage cans feature the most recycled content on average compared to other formats. Aluminum also offers the highest economic value among competing substrates. 有了这些好处, it is no wonder why 80% of all aluminum ever produced is still available for use today. A key differentiator with cans is that they are not only recyclable in theory, 但实际上它们在实践中是被回收利用的. Consumers recycle aluminum cans at a rate of 69% on average, globally—more than double the rate that they recycle plastic bottles. 在欧洲, 回收率超过76%, 在巴西, 数量仍然明显高于其他基质, 接近100%. 然而,, consumers can lack access to recycling infrastructure both publicly and privately and are often unaware of proper recycling measures or assume their recycled goods still end up in landfills. 因此, 许多人没有正确地回收, keeping metal sustainability and other non plastic packaging solutions from reaching their full potential for recycling efficacy, 尤其是在美国.S.

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^{来源: 罐头制造商协会(CMI) -铝饮料罐回收处理剂 & 路线图.}

If you have ever wondered how the recycling process works, here is a brief overview:

• Cans are sorted and baled at a material recovery facility (MRF). mrf是对所有单流可回收物进行分类的地方. They are typically sorted out with the use of an eddy current and then baled for shipment to an aluminum recycler. Each baled cube of UBCs weighs about 2,200 pounds and contains about 65,000 cans.
• Bales of used beverage cans (UBC) arrive at an aluminum mill. There are several aluminum mills in the United States focused on melting UBCs to make can sheet for new cans with most of these mills in the Southeast United States. 
• ubc准备熔化. At the mill the cans are shredded into smaller pieces that allow for easier removal of the non-aluminum components. 碎片通过光学分拣机, which separates out the non-metal and blasts away plastic or glass with jets of air. 它还被放在磁铁下面，磁铁会吸走钢. After these steps, the paint and lacquer are burned off, leaving only aluminum chips.
• 铝片熔化后变成罐头片. Furnaces at over 1200 degrees Fahrenheit melt the aluminum so it can flow into a mold and be cast into a towering block called an ingot. 每锭重27吨，由1个钢锭组成.500万个回收罐头. The ingots then go to a rolling mill where they are heated in another furnace to nearly 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. This relaxes the bonds so that as it is rolled back and forth, 它逐渐变薄，直到形成大约33英寸的薄片,000英尺长. The sheet is then rolled up and sent to a can manuf行为urer. 
• The can manuf行为urer turns the aluminum can sheet into new cans. The can manuf行为urer unrolls the can sheet and feeds it into a cupping press, which cuts out shallow cups from the can sheet very rapidly. The left-over scrap after cutting out the cups goes back to the aluminum mill to be recycled. 这些浅杯子被塞进一系列的环中, 一个比一个窄, 创造了易拉罐标志性的圆柱形形状. The aluminum can is now ready for filling, enjoyment and then being recycled again.

Since metal is an infinite material that has no limitations for recycling and reproduction, its availability for future use is almost strictly dependent on how well it is captured and reused over time. That is why we are taking a more 行为ive role in guiding the material through its closed-loop system successfully—time and time again. 例如， 最优循环 我们的支柱 二十by30 sustainability program includes goals to increase the recycled content and recycling rate of our eco-friendly packaging products. 我们最近还设置了 新的全球回收目标 to help propel the industry to the highest recycling rates possible.