Steel Cans and Pie Plates

Tin beverage and food cans, containers, and pie plates go into your comingled recycling.

Facts On Steel

• Steel is the most recycle material in North America
• About 630 steel cans are recycled every second!
• Steel cans contain 25% recycled content and are completely recyclable.
• Recycling steel conserves 2500 lbs. of iron ore, 1400 lbs. of coal and 120 lbs. of limestone, while aluminum conserves up to 8 tons bauxite ore and 14 megawatt hours of electricity.

Why is it Important to Recycle Steel?

Steel cans have an infinitive life span and can be recycled and reused again and again. Recycled steel make up everyday products that we all use from food containers or oil filters, to airplanes.  If you were stack the nearly 19 billion steel cans the steel industry recycled in 1996 end to end, you would have a line stretching from here to the moon and back more than three times.

Recycling steel cans save energy. The amount of energy saved in using recycled metals is extensive. The ISRI reports an energy use reduction of 95 percent for aluminum, 85 percent for copper and 74 percent for iron and steel.

No wonder the steel industry has been actively recycling for more than 150 years.