Cyclical Nature of Aluminum

In case you didn’t know, aluminum can be recycled over and over again due to the nature of its atomic structure. The life cycle of aluminum does not adhere to the “cradle-to-grave” pattern that is typical of many other materials. “Cradle-to-grave” is a term that describes the life of a product from its beginning up until the point that the product is discarded or can no longer be used for another purpose. Conversely, aluminum follows the “cradle-to-cradle” design whereby a product is created and has the composition to be used endlessly in the future. This feature of aluminum lends itself to significant energy savings given that re-melting aluminum takes a mere 5% of the power necessary in primary production of virgin aluminum. Less demand for energy results in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The aluminum industry boasts that the global energy savings each year from recycling aluminum is in the ballpark of 215,000 gigawatt hours- equal to the total annual electricity used in all of Australia! Keep your aluminum in the cycle by recycling those cans!

Curbside Recycling- Starting to Make “Cents”

A New York Times article from May 2008 indicates that the cost to operate curbside recycling for New York City residents is finally becoming more competitive with trash disposal costs. Historically, the costs for providing a residential curbside recycling program have been substantially higher per ton than the costs to simply haul away the material as garbage to a landfill. Just a few years ago in 2004, New York City spent around $34 to $48 a ton more to recycle than to ship garbage to the landfill. This year, however, the price difference has dwindled to just $17 a ton more for recycling, underscoring the rising costs of sending garbage to landfills in other states and the increase in redemption values for recyclables. The City is beginning to realize that increased participation in curbside recycling yields more revenues from recyclables as well as savings from paying fewer tipping fees at the landfill. Recycling is really starting to make “cents” in more ways than one!

Like Summer Temperatures, Aluminum Can Recycling on the Rise

The summer heat is not the only thing that is climbing this time of year. As seen from the graph below, UBC (used beverage can) reclamation rates released for May 2008 showed an impressive increase of 23.3% from the month prior. Year-to-date totals revealed a steady incline of 3.4% compared to this time last year. These increases are good news in the ongoing efforts to combat the 251 million tons of garbage produced each year by Americans. Reclaiming more cans from the waste stream for recycling translates into turning down the thermostat on electricity usage and greenhouse gas emissions- all of which results in a cleaner planet for everyone. With the rest of 2008 remaining, let’s see if we can turn up the heat on recycling even more aluminum cans!

It’s Big Ben…only BETTER

Editor's note: I'm posting this contribution on behalf of Guest Blogger Amy Chen, summer intern at Alcoa.

You never thought the sight of your favorite clock tower would be what inspired you to recycle, but the mayor of London certainly hopes that the sight of the 20ft high aluminum rendition of London’s Big Ben will remind us all to reduce, reuse, and recycle!
Four aluminum replications of famous UK structures, constructed solely with Coca-Cola cans, were unveiled in the UK last week as part of UK Recycling Week. Included amongst these famous scenic choices are Big Ben, the Angel of the North (less cool than the Big Ben, perhaps, but if you saw the 10,000 miniature Coke cans needed to construct it, you’d still be impressed!), Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge, and the Birmingham Bull Statue.
And OK, so maybe this will take tens of thousands of aluminum cans out of the recycling stream. And it will cost us a little energy, perhaps, but hopefully the hordes of people rushing to recycle their cans will offset this loss.

Alcoa issues a Can-ifesto

Editor's note:

I'm publishing this for my buddy Gregg Wittbecker, Alcoa's recycling czar. This is the text of a handout he prepared for Earthfest in Knoxville Tennessee this week. Good words to live by.

Where Alcoa Stands on Recycling
What A Waste!
1. The U.S. presently recycles less than 50% of all the aluminum cans it consumes.
2. That equals about 600,000,000 pounds of aluminum.
3. This wastes the equivalent of 4.2 BILLION kilowatts of electricity per year that is used to produce virgin aluminum to replace those cans.
4. That’s enough electricity to power 4,500,000 households in the U.S. for 1 year.
5. Another way to look at it…it’s the equivalent of 12,000,000 barrels of oil or equal to what we import per week.

Alcoa’s Call to Action
1. In January 2008, Alcoa challenged its partners in the aluminum industry to raise recycling rates to 75% by 2015.

2. This can only be accomplished through a joint effort of government, industry and the general public.

3. What needs to be done?
Government- A commitment to provide all citizens access to convenient and cost-effective recycling.
General Public- Americans need to change their “pre-disposal to dispose” and learn to recycle and re-use.
Industry- A commitment to take back 100% of the aluminum that it ships out in the form of recycling aluminum scrap.

Practical Steps to Recycle
1. “Make It Second Nature”. At Alcoa, we have coined a new slogan to drive our commitment to recycling. “Make It Second Nature” means making recycling an extension of our everyday lives. We all must change our behavior to make recycling habitual.

Just as we all grew up “taking out the trash”. Now, we must learn to “take out the recycling”.

2. Size for Success: UPSIZE your recycling containers. If you have curbside recycling in your neighborhood, tell your provider you need a BIGGER container to hold your recycled products. The 22 gallon cartons are TOO SMALL. Ask for a minimum of 50 to 95 rolling “tote container”.

If you must take your recycling to a drop-off center (hurray for your efforts), get more 22 gallon cartons. These cartons are inexpensive and durable. Community bin grant programs through leading recycling advocacy groups are available to assist those who cannot afford containers.

3. Change Curbside Practices. Ask your provider if single stream service is an option. Single stream means placing ALL recyclables in ONE container…no more separation of items.

4. Ask your trash provider about a "Pay As You Throw" program. This innovative trash scheme charges you only for what you dispose of and takes your recycling materials away for free. This is a good way to lower your trash bill while also diverting valuable recyclables back into productive use.

5. Combine drop-off recycling with other errands. We understand gas is expensive, and making a special trip to a drop center is not practical. Combine your recycling drop-off with other trips. Form recycling car pools with neighbors to take turns taking recyclables to the centers.

6. Ask your community to create more drop-off centers in closer proximity to your home.

7. If you don’t have curbside service, ask your community or trash provider to add it and point out to them that every ton of recycling diverted from a landfill saves the community the cost of dumping solid waste (tipping fees) and extends the life of the existing landfill.

8. Don’t accept conventional wisdom that recycling DOESN'T PAY for itself. Other materials besides aluminum are increasingly valuable and Material Recycling Facilities have more markets than ever for paper, plastic, rubber, and glass.

9. Donate recyclables. Did you know that recyclable materials that are donated are tax deductible? Besides the gratification of helping worthy causes in your community, you can reduce your tax bite to Uncle Sam in the process.

10. Sell recyclables. Did you know that aluminum cans are currently fetching near record prices? Local scrap dealers are happy to pay 70 to 80 cents/lb for consumer cans…that’s about 2 cents a piece.

Out of excuses

1400 Knoxville Tennessee residents no longer have an excuse not to recycle.

That's because they received their own free blue recycling bins this week in Knoxville.

The bin giveway was sponsored by Keep Knoxville Beautiful, Alcoa and Anheuser-Busch. It was kicked off on Earth Day (April 22).

Readers of this blog may know that Alcoa makes aluminum can sheet at its plant in Alcoa, Tennessee; and has a large corporate center in K'ville.

Rumors that Alcoa executives will personally collect the bins and recycle the cans are unsubstantiated.

If you're looking for yours, they still have some left. Here's a schedule of distribution dates and places.

Listen to your Pepsi

Next time you pop open a Pepsi can, see if it has something to tell you besides 'fzzzzzzz.' Pepsi is adding recycling messages to 750 million Pepsi and Diet Pepsi cans every month. Righteous sayings like "Recycle this can and save enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for four hours." Or "Recycling could save 95% of the energy used to make this can." And also, "The average person has the opportunity to recycle 25,000 cans in a lifetime."

That last one makes me thirsty.

This is a new campaign from Pepsi called "Have We Met Before?" that will let you know that the aluminum can you hold in your hand was in all likelihood, in a prior life, a can in someone else's hand. There's some karmic beauty to that, and you should perpetuate the cycle.

So drink, read, and obey.