The weight of an aluminum can is critical to the processes that the can undergoes in regard to efficiency, material recovery, and economic value. A typical full aluminum can weighs about 13 to 15 grams; worldwide about 105 billion such cans are recycled every year. This weight means millions of tons of a commodity, one of the most highly valued materials in the recycling industry.
Lightweighting, otherwise stated as reducing the weight of the aluminium can, is one priority of manufacturers to reduce material costs and environmental impacts. In the last three decades, the weight of the average can has been reduced by 30% – saving many millions of tons of aluminium annually. Yet while lighter weight cans require less material in their production, they also provide less material upon eventual recycling. A bale of compressed lightweight cans may have more units in it but generate slightly lower revenues per ton because of the reduced aluminum content.
In fact, weight could affect the effectiveness of recycling. Smelters depend on state-of-the-art sorting technologies, including eddy current separators, which separate sorted aluminum from combined waste streams. Since machines operating at over 3,000 items per minute sort products in sorting facilities, lighter-weight cans need highly specific calibration to avoid misclassification. Despite these complications, aluminum retains a 95% recyclability rate, which means most of the material recovered gets reused.
Another important consideration is the economic value of the recycled aluminum. A ton of recycled aluminum sells for around $1,500 to $2,000 in global markets, depending on its purity and market demand. For those facilities that must process lighter cans, volumes have to be much higher to maintain profitability. Indeed, one U.S.-based recycling center said it needed to process 10% more cans annually when lightweight designs became the norm-a number that required upgrades to their sorting and baling equipment just to keep up with demand.
Recycling has kept pace with Elon Musk’s principle: “Innovation thrives in efficiency.” Lightweighting cuts transportation emissions 20% because more cans can be shipped per truckload. This is the right strategy towards sustainability without hurting profitability in recycling.
Learn more about the relationship between aluminium can weight and recycling efficiency at aluminium can weight.