---
title: 'Can Aluminum Cans Be Recycled? - (The Truth might surprise you)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=PR5mykiFzN4'
video_id: 'PR5mykiFzN4'
date: 2026-07-10
---

# Can Aluminum Cans Be Recycled? - (The Truth might surprise you)

> Source: [Can Aluminum Cans Be Recycled? - (The Truth might surprise you)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=PR5mykiFzN4)

## Summary

This video takes you inside Constellium, one of the largest aluminum can recycling facilities in the world, to show the entire process from bales of used cans to finished coils of aluminum. It highlights the energy savings, the importance of proper recycling, and the surprising fact that aluminum is infinitely recyclable.

### Key Points

- **Facility Overview** [00:23] — Constellium in Alabama has been recycling aluminum for 90 years and is one of the largest used beverage can recyclers globally.
- **Infinite Recyclability** [00:38] — Aluminum is infinitely recyclable; 75% of all aluminum ever mined is still in circulation.
- **Bale Details** [00:56] — Each bale weighs about 1,000 lb and contains about 30,000 cans. Americans consume about 100 billion cans per year.
- **Shredding Process** [01:25] — A grapple excavator shreds bales, then a front loader drops cans onto a vibratory conveyor. Shredding ensures no liquid remains, which could cause explosions in furnaces.
- **Delamination and Melting** [02:20] — A tumbler delaminates cans, stripping paint and enamel before they fall into the furnace. Stomping feet press scrap into molten metal.
- **Melting Temperature and Safety** [03:01] — Aluminum melts at about 1,220°F. Workers wear aluminumized suits to reflect heat and protect from splashes. Liquid water in furnaces expands 1,000 times, causing explosions.
- **Energy Savings** [04:10] — Recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than mining new aluminum, with 95% fewer emissions.
- **Adding Manganese and Salt** [04:41] — Manganese is added to maintain alloy consistency; pink salt acts as a flux to collect contaminants that are scraped off.
- **Annual Recycling Volume** [05:28] — Constellium recycles about 1 billion pounds of aluminum per year, operating 24/7.
- **Recycling Rates** [05:53] — USA recycles only 43% of aluminum cans, compared to Canada 71%, UK 80%, and Brazil nearly 100%. About 60 billion cans go to US landfills yearly.
- **Electromagnetic Casting** [06:34] — Molten aluminum is poured into a rectangle in the ground, cooled by misters, and solidified into 40,000 lb ingots without molds, using electromagnetic fields for smooth finish.
- **Hot Rolling** [07:51] — Ingots are reheated and hot-rolled with a 10,000-ton rolling mill, flattening and lengthening the aluminum into coils.
- **Cold Rolling and Final Product** [09:01] — After hot rolling, the aluminum is cold-rolled into thin sheets and coiled. Constellium produces about 3 million pounds of finished coils daily.
- **Time from Can to Can** [09:47] — A recycled can can be back on the shelf as a new can in about 60 days if properly recycled.

### Conclusion

Recycling aluminum cans is highly efficient and environmentally beneficial, but the low US recycling rate means we miss out on significant energy savings and domestic supply security. Proper recycling is crucial for sustainability.

## Transcript

Today we're going to find out what
really happens to recycled aluminum
cans. It's probably a little different
than you might think.
It all starts right here in Alabama with
Constellium and an aluminum recycling
facility that's been here in the USA
recycling aluminum for the past 90
years. They are currently one of the
largest used beverage can recycling
facilities on the planet. Since aluminum
is infinitely recyclable and 75% of all
aluminum ever mined is still in
circulation today, there's a very good
chance that the cans you see here in
these bales have already been through
these fiery furnaces more than once. And
it's time for them to ride the roller
coaster of rebirth yet again. Behind me,
each of these bales weighs about 1,000
lb and contains about 30,000 aluminum
drinking cans. Here in the United
States, Americans consume about 100
billion cans a year, and they need to be
recycled somewhere. The big bales of
cans are offloaded from semi-truckss and
stacked neatly, positioned in rows,
ready for their turn to be grabbed by
the claw.
The claw is really a grapple excavator
that shreds full bales of cans to get
them ready for processing. Thumbs up for
that cool machine. Once the bales are
broken open, the big front loader can
then scoop up the loose cans and drop
them onto a vibratory conveyor belt.
The vibrations help sift the cans down
onto the conveyor uniformally, so the
facility inside has a steady stream of
aluminum scrap to work with. Shredding
the cans accomplishes multiple things.
One, the smaller scraps are easier to
work with. And two, shredding makes sure
that there is no liquid remaining in any
of the cans since liquid could be
catastrophic to the furnaces, as we'll
talk about later.
>> So, the crush cans come in from outside
inside this tumbler right here where
they get delaminated and then thrown
down into the furnace right here where
everything gets melted up. This
deacering process strips away the paint
and enamel on the outside of the cans to
get the aluminum cleaner before it falls
into the furnace.
And curiously, the best way to mix the
new can scraps in with the already hot
molten metal is with two mechanically
stomping feet. like some kind of
steampunk wine press. The oversized
aluminum boot stompers help press the
top layers of scrap down into the molten
aluminum underneath. Aluminum melts at
about 1,220°
F. So, these furnaces are cooking quite
literally. I had to put on some special
PPE to keep me safe. This aluminumized
jacket and gloves do two things. They
reflect a lot of the radiant heat coming
from inside the furnace while at the
same time they're made with aluminum
themselves. So, if there is any
accidental splashes, the aluminum would
beat up and roll off of my suit, keeping
me safe underneath, hopefully. Speaking
of splashes, one of the biggest concerns
here at the factory is liquid getting
inside of the furnace or the crucible,
since liquid water expands about 1,000
times in volume when it turns to steam.
Any cans with liquid still inside of
them would create an explosive silvery
lava bubble, which is why the shredding
and drying process is so important. Now
that we have the molten aluminum lava
all melted up inside of the furnace,
it's time to collect it all in the
largest crucible I've ever seen. The
crucible is a specially built cup that
can collect the silvery liquid aluminum
for transport. Since the casting
building is about a/4 mile away, we have
to drive the liquid over to the next
building. And a remotec controlled
overhead crane does all the heavy
lifting for us. Recycling aluminum uses
95% less energy than mining new aluminum
from the ground. Which also means
recycled aluminum has 95% fewer
emissions while at the same time
decreasing our dependence on foreign
mines since we can just recirculate our
own supply forever.
as long of course as you're putting your
cans in the right bin. It's also at this
point that can constellium can add
manganesees to the trough to keep the
aluminum alloy consistent as well as
some pink salt which helps acts as a
flux. The salt helps collect
contaminants that can be scraped off the
top of the crucible. The slack that's
getting scraped off is just the
impurities and non-aluminum metals that
have floated up to the surface. Yeah,
it's pretty warm in here. Pretty warm.
Pretty warm.
>> After the top is scraped off, the whole
crucible is hoisted back onto the
awaiting truck to be driven off to the
casting portion of the factory, which is
another fun process to watch. If the
trucks aren't able to leave right away,
they can park under some torches to help
keep the aluminum from solidifying since
that would become a very large and heavy
problem. Constellium recycles about 1
billion pounds worth of aluminum every
single year. And this factory operates
all day long 24/7 since the furnaces can
never be allowed to go cold. Once the
trucks arrive at the casting machine,
the easiest way to get the aluminum out
of the crucible is with a giant straw.
The straw sucks up the aluminum like a
forbidden slurpee cup. You can see how
fast it drains the molten aluminum in
real time. Even though aluminum can be
infinitely recycled, it's estimated here
in the USA that about 60 billion cans
are thrown into landfills every year
where they can't be recycled. The United
States has an aluminum can recycling
rate of about only 43%.
Which is pretty bad compared to Canada's
71% aluminum can recycling rate. I guess
that's why they call it Canada.
And the UK is sitting at around 80%. But
it's actually Brazil that beats everyone
with a nearly 100% aluminum can
recycling rate. Nice work, Brazil. But
you're probably like, "Hey, Jerry, how
do we get the liquid aluminum into a
usable format?" And I'm very glad you
asked. The coolest part of this whole
process is the casting and the rolling.
The aluminum we just hoovered out of the
crucible is poured into massive 40,000
lb ingots, six at a time, without using
any molds. Constellium pours the molten
aluminum into a rectangle in the ground.
And then as the aluminum cools down,
thanks to the misters and flowing water,
it can solidify into free space below
the rectangle, creating an aluminum
obelisk. This is called electromagnetic
casting. A magnetic field helps the
metal solidify without physically
touching the walls of the mold, giving
the slabs a uniform smooth finish on the
hardened exterior, which will come in
handy later. Constellium's ingots are
about 2 meters wide and 5 meters long
and weigh more than your mom's minivan.
It's as dense as 12 minivans to be
exact. The crazy part though is that
even though they look hard and finished
from the outside, they can retain their
heat and be too hot for humans to touch
for 2 or three more days as they sit on
the factory floor. Once they are fully
formed, the only thing that can move
them around here at the factory is the
overhead crane. These use large pencers
to grab each ingot. It's rather
impressive seeing a crane that can
easily hoist these massive slabs of
aluminum. Remember, each one of these
weighs as much as a school bus.
Constellium takes safety very seriously
and blocks off all traffic underneath
the crane's path while it's in motion.
And while giant rectangles are fun and
everything, to get the aluminum into a
more usable form factor, we need to
smash it a lot over and over again until
it is 7 mi long. The chosen ingot is
reheated in a furnace to make it
malleable and then hot rolled with a
10,000 ton rolling mill. 10,000 tons is
about the equivalent weight of 3,000
elephants, all stampeding very neatly in
the same spot. The ingot rolls back and
forth through the mill, getting flatter
and longer with each pass. You can see
the liquid emulsion floating on top of
our casting. This oil and water mixture
accomplishes two things. The oil helps
lubricate the metal as it gets rolled,
and the water helps distribute the heat
of the metal as it gets worked to keep
it from warping and cracking. I also
thought it was cool to see each of the
electric motors attached to the rollers,
since rolling and stopping and changing
directions of a 40,000lb block of
aluminum requires a lot of horsepower.
Once our ingot is no longer a block and
sits at about half an inch thick is
rolled up into a coil to be passed on to
the cold rolling mills. See most
industrial facilities like automobile
factories or appliance factories. They
get their aluminum in rolls because the
rolled up sheet metal form factor is
easier to feed into their body panel
stamping equipment. Or the rolls can be
reincarnated back into aluminum drinking
cans. We've seen these giant coils quite
a few times in my other factory tour
videos here on my channel. Thank you for
subscribing by the way. To roll a
complete 7m long strip of aluminum,
constellium has to go vertical with
accumulator towers since just like pizza
dough, the more it gets squished, the
longer it gets. And constellium makes
about 3 million pounds worth of these
finished coils every single day. All
this to say that your recycled aluminum
can can be back on the store shelf as a
new can in about 60 days, but only if it
goes into the recycling bin and not the
trash bin. The nice thing about
recycling aluminum cans, though, is that
most recycling places will pay you for
the metal, or you can always throw them
in your streetide recycling bin if
that's easier. At the USA's current 43%
recycling rate, we aren't even
replenishing our own domestic supply,
which from a supply chain and national
security perspective is a little bit
unnerving. Do you recycle your aluminum?
Let me know down in the comments. 40 of
those bales of cans were turned into the
massive ingot, which was then rolled
into this huge coil behind me. So, make
sure you put your next beverage can in
the recycling bin so it can turn into
your next vehicle, your next airplane,
or back into a can you can drink from
again. Hit that subscribe button if you
haven't already, and thanks a ton for
watching. I'll see you around.