What happens with the recycled aluminum foil cans?

They get melted down and made into new cans. Just think, part of a can you’re drinking out of could have been recycled before you were born!

@loser OMG!

Yup, melting and then re-shaping.

They do get cleaned right???

@Tink1113 No, they don’t clean them. That’s what that “metal” taste is. ~

@Tink1113 Clean? What do you mean?

The melting point of Aluminum is 1200 Fahrenheit (The cans are 90%+ aluminum). If that doesn’t clean the cans well enough, I’m sure there is a separate process.

I believe water boils just above 200 F, and that’s all you need to make water drinkable if you get it from a bad source.

@casheroo Ewww dude :P
@loser Like make sure there’s no bacteria/germs on the can
@Sarcasm I hope you aren’t using sarcasm :)

@Tink1113 Yeah, I’m pretty sure they get cleaned. Probably. Mostly.

@loser Oh, ok thanks

(The cans are made of aluminum but not aluminum foil, which is a very, very thin, pliable sheet of metal. You couldn’t make a can out of foil.)

@Jeruba Oh my, hehe thanks for the clarification :)

Here’s a good overview of the process (with videos).

@Harp Thanks :) it really helped

Unfortunately, according to the expose I saw a while back. they end up going to the landfill. I doubt that’s the case now with commodity prices, I take that back Alum is at 2003 levels now-http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/AL/W.