Should we collect the pull tabs from cans for charity?

As of late, the Ronald McDonald House has been collecting pull tabs in some parts of the country. Other than that we know of no substantiated program that is currently collecting them. Be sure you have a program before you begin your program,  Every year we get calls from organizations that saved thousands of pull tabs because they heard they could be traded for kidney dialysis or some other medical charity drive. If you save aluminum for a fund raiser, save the whole cans, cash them in at a local recycler, and send a check to the deserving cause.

Which recyclables can I sell for cash ?

There are a few items in the recycling stream that are valuable enough to collect and to sell locally for cash. The highest priced item is aluminum cans and scrap metal other than iron/steel. When paper prices are high, there is usually a market for scrap newspaper and corrugated cardboard. Plastic and glass bottles are difficult to sell unless you have tons of material and the value is usually a penny or two per pound in non deposit areas.

Where can I sell my recyclables ?

At Connecticut Metal, we are wholesalers, and we mostly purchase material in truckload quantities of 40,000 lbs or more. However, there are thousands of scrap metal and recycling companies around the world that purchase smaller amounts of metal and paper directly from the public. To find a collector in your area check the phone book under " SCRAP METAL" , " RECYCLING" or "WASTE PAPER" . You can also check the website ISRI.org for North America and BIR.org for Europe.

What are recyclables worth ?

The prices for for non-ferrous metals ( aluminum, copper, brass, zinc, etc.) vary greatly depending on the commodity price or demand for new metal. Scrap Prices also vary depending on geography, on how far away you are from a mill that consumes the material. The best way to check a price is to first know what you have, and then call a few different buyers and compare their prices. We list the wholesale price of aluminum can scrap on this website and you should expect to get 15 to 20 cents less than that price for 100 lbs of cans. The price of copper scrap has ranged between 25cents and 1.20 US a pound during the last ten years. The price of brass and bronze closely follow the copper price. Paper is just as volatile. The price paid to the public has swung between zero and $100 per ton over the last 10 years. Always check the price before you start collecting and before you sell, so you won't be disappointed.

How many aluminum cans does it take to make a pound ?

At present there are nearly 32 12 ounce (333 ml) beverage cans in a pound (72 per kilo) . This is up from the original 23 per pound because the cans have gotten thinner as technology improved.

Can I melt my aluminum cans at home ?

Possibly but it is fairly dangerous and very uneconomical. Can scrap is worth more that what you would get paid for a homemade aluminum ingot. Also, for every pound of cans you melt, you will only recover about 3/4 of a pound of melted metal, if you are careful. This is not for amateurs. Aluminum melts at 1240 F and can explode violently if there is any water present in the scrap. 

What do you do with recycled glass? paper? aluminum?

Most recyclables actually go to more than one market and each commodity is handled a little differently. For example most bottle glass goes back into bottles, but some goes into asphalt for roads, and some may be used as abrasives. Likewise, newsprint may go back to newsprint, or it could end up as a gift box or in ceiling tile. Most aluminum cans find their way back into cans, but some end up as aluminum siding or car parts. Plastic PET beverage bottles are commonly used for carpet fiber or stuffing inside jackets and quilts. There are new uses being developed all the time to absorb the growing tonnage of recyclables being diverted from the waste stream.

What processes are used to recycle things ?

There is no one process used in recycling. All material has to be collected, sorted and packaged to use as raw material. Beyond that, each material is handled a little differently. We have a little more specific information on processing under each listing on our main page.