information for parents
Use this section to locate useful information within thinkcans.com and increase your understanding of recycling.
Download our recycling glossary to help explain technical terms. Find out about the history of aluminium and aluminium recycling. How is recycling in the UK organised and what about recycling other materials?
Within each section we've also suggested some other websites which you might find helpful, but if you have any questions or comments please contact us
Other areas of this website will provide you with all sorts of information, including Recycling at home, recycling at work and how to raise funds through cash for cans. You can also learn how aluminium cans are recycled by following the aluminium can recycling loop.
History of aluminium
Aluminium is the most recently discovered metal in common use - it was discovered in 1807 by Sir Humphry Davy. However there is nothing new about aluminium recycling: Recycling has always been an integral part of the production process and today recycled aluminium accounts for one third of the metal currently in use worldwide. Click here to find out more about aluminium or here to download our kids factsheet
Other useful links:
www.world-aluminium.org
www.alunet.net
Aluminium recycling
Aluminium can be endlessly recycled - the quality of the metal is not altered or reduced by the recycling process. This gives 'scrap' aluminium an intrinsic value. Added to this are the environmental benefits of the recycling process: which save around 95% of the energy and 95% of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to manufacturing the metal from its raw materials. Click here to find out more
Other useful links
www.alupro.org.uk
In the UK recycling of aluminium cans is well established. In 1991 Europe's only dedicated used drink can recycling plant was opened in Warrington, Cheshire. This plant has the capacity to recycle every aluminium can sold in the UK for the foreseeable future – equivalent to 80,000 tonnes of aluminium. The plant plays a vital role in the aluminium can recycling loop – remelting used cans and producing ingots of can sheet alloy, which is used to make more drink cans. Find out more Download our kids factsheet.
Recycling in the UK
In the UK most of our household waste ends up in landfill sites. Landfill sites can be damaging to the environment. Not only that, once a material is buried it is lost forever, meaning reusable resources are being wasted. The available space for this method of waste disposal is rapidly running out.
At a local level waste management (and recycling) policy is handled by local councils, who are all given targets by central government. These targets are based on diversion of materials from landfill sites. Many local authorities are introducing programmes where householders separate their recyclable rubbish. This is collected separately from the main domestic waste and sold on to reprocessors, like Novelis, for recycling.
Useful links:
www.wasteonline.org
www.recyclenow.com
www.recycle-more.co.uk
Other materials
Of course aluminium is not the only packaging material that can be recycled. Glass bottles and jars, steel containers, plastic bottles and paper and cardboard can also be recycled. In fact around 60% of the materials we are used to putting in our rubbish bin could actually be recycled.
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useful links
- Cans for cash or charity
- Free Resources for Schools
- Recycling at work
- Cash for Cans
- What happens to the cans?
interactive tour
teachers resources
