 |
There are 29 cans per pound of aluminum, up from 22
in 1972. |
 |
99% of all beer cans and 97% of all soft drink cans are
made of aluminum. |
 |
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! |
 |
American consumers and industry throw away enough aluminum
to rebuild the entire U.S. commercial air fleet every 3 months.
|
 |
In 1994, 3.1 million tons of aluminum waste was
generated: aluminum containers and packaging, such as soft drink and
beer cans, contributed 2.1 million tons. |
 |
Aluminum made up 1.5% of the total municipal solid
waste stream generated in the U.S. in 1994. |
 |
Approximately 65.5% of aluminum containers were recycled
in the U.S. in 1994. The overall rate for aluminum packaging was
55.0%. |
 |
Most aluminum recovered from the waste stream is used to
manufacture new cans. |
 |
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. |