Shocking Facts
- The amount of energy wasted from the aluminum cans not recycled in 2006 would be sufficient to supply the total energy needs of 1.8 million American homes for a year!
- In 2008, the United States generated nearly two million tons of aluminum as containers and packaging, and manufacturers used about 1.4 million tons of aluminum to make durable and nondurable goods.
- The total amount of aluminum in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream—3.4 million tons—represented 1.3 percent of total MSW generation in 2008. In 1960, aluminum in MSW was only 0.4 percent of MSW generation (340,000 tons).
- The largest source of aluminum in the MSW stream is aluminum used beverage containers (UBCs) and other packaging containers.
- Other sources of aluminum are found in durable and nondurable goods, such as appliances and automobile parts.
- Manufacturers make 99 percent of all beer cans and 97 percent of all soft drink cans from aluminum. Aluminum beer and soft drink containers were recovered at a rate of about 48 percent of generation (about 0.7 million tons) in 2008, and 38 percent of all aluminum in containers and packaging was recovered for recycling in 2008.
- In 2008, Americans discarded about 2.7 million tons of aluminum in MSW after recovery—1.6 percent of total MSW discards.
- Automobiles also contain aluminum, but this aluminum is generally not calculated in measures of MSW generation, recycling, or disposal.