Here's Why Smashing Aluminum Cans Make Them Harder to Recycle
- 5 years ago
Here's Why Smashing
Aluminum Cans Make
Them Harder to Recycle It is always a good idea to recycle or encourage others to do the same. But taking an empty product out of its original form could be a bad idea. At recycling centers, materials
are organized into sections
matching their shape. If you were to crush an
empty soda can, it may
become misidentified. Smashed cans could then end up with paper items due to the similarity
of their flattened shapes. Recycled paper or cardboard
could then be contaminated
by the aluminum. Some areas will recycle cans correctly regardless of what they look like. Here's an extra tip - don't throw away
the cap on a plastic bottle by itself. This is due to them often ending up in
landfills because of their small size.
Aluminum Cans Make
Them Harder to Recycle It is always a good idea to recycle or encourage others to do the same. But taking an empty product out of its original form could be a bad idea. At recycling centers, materials
are organized into sections
matching their shape. If you were to crush an
empty soda can, it may
become misidentified. Smashed cans could then end up with paper items due to the similarity
of their flattened shapes. Recycled paper or cardboard
could then be contaminated
by the aluminum. Some areas will recycle cans correctly regardless of what they look like. Here's an extra tip - don't throw away
the cap on a plastic bottle by itself. This is due to them often ending up in
landfills because of their small size.