Think of it as a big, flying beer can

We often get questions about recycling things besides beverage cans. Can you recycle, for example, a 747?

The answer is, mais oui, mon ami. In Chateauroux, France, at a recycling center near the town's airport, they have a machine that can bite a jumbo jet in half. Then it chomps the big pieces into smaller pieces, until other machines can sort through the pile of scrap and separate the aluminum, titanium, copper and other reusable stuff from the plastic tray tables, airsick bags, carpet and wrinkled magazines. Think of the battle scene aftermath in Transformers.

Two thirds of the reusable stuff from this process is aluminum. It turns back into (drum roll) ... aluminum ingots, which in turn may become bicycles, lawn chairs, and maybe even airplane parts. Voila!

You can read the whole story here.

Since a lot (OK, most) of the aluminum in these beasts comes from Alcoa, it's good to know that it's getting the right treatment when it can no longer fly. We (and the world) need it.