Published: 30 October, 2003

What happens to color when a can get recycled?

Recycled metal looks like the same color as non-recycled metal. When soda cans are recycled, what happened to the paint or dye that was on top of the aluminum?

The recycling process for aluminum has become the most successful recycling program in the world. In 2001, over 55 billion cans were recycled in the United States alone. The process has become so efficient that making a soda can from recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy than making a can from new aluminum!

Today, it is estimated that the time between depositing a can for recycling and the time it reappears in a vending machine or grocery store may be as little as 60 days. So how does this happen?

First, the cans you deposit are crushed as small as possible and pressed into dense cubes that are shipped to reclamation plants. At these plants, the cans are then shredded into popcorn-sized pieces and heated up hot enough to burn off all the coatings, decorations and paint. The paint on the outside of th cans decomposes at a lower temperature than the aluminum, so by the end of this process all the colors are gone and the recycled aluminum looks just like new aluminum.

These pieces are then melted and cast into large blocks, which are finally shipped to various factories to become one of many different possible products.

Right now, recycled cans are being made not only into new cans; they can also be used for building materials, car parts, bicycles, fishing poles, and baseball bats. So the next time you step up to the plate in a baseball game, it s possible that the bat you swing was made from a recycled soda can!