STEEL FACTS


Every day, Americans use enough steel and tin cans to make a steel pipe running from Los Angeles to New York and back.
37 billion steel cans weighing 2,654,892 tons were used in the U.S. in 1991.
97% of all steel cans are used for food.
The average American uses 142 steel cans per year.
About 11.5 million tons of ferrous (e.g., steel and iron) waste was generated in the U.S. in 1994.
Americans throw away enough iron and steel to continuously supply the nation's automakers.
Ferrous metals constituted 5.5% of the 1994 U.S. municipal solid waste stream by weight.
In 1994, approximately 53.1% of all steel cans and 27.8% of steel packaging materials, such as strapping, were recycled. The overall rate of ferrous metal recovery was about 25.2%.
Steel food and beverage cans are recycled into a variety of products including new cans, bicycle frames, and even new cars.
Industrial Users of Scrap

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