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Aluminum and Tin Cans are Resources

11,156 tons were disposed of at the landfill in 2006

KC Waste Stream What's in your garbage? Seventy-five percent of materials thrown away are resources – not waste.

What are they?

Aluminum and tin are non-ferrous metals which means they do not contain iron. Among other things, they are used to make many types of food and beverage cans. These cans are easy and inexpensive to recycle.

Why recycle cans?

Cans in the landfill are a wasted resource. Recycling metal requires significantly fewer resources than virgin metal extraction. It is much less environmentally damaging and less expensive than mining, concentrating and smelting the raw materials.

Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours. Over 250 million aluminum cans were disposed of at the landfill in King County in 2006. The energy that could have been saved by recycling those cans could power a television for 85,000 years!

What can you do?

• If you are not signed up for curbside garbage collection, consider doing so. In most cases, recycling service is included in your bill.
• If you self-haul, separate aluminum and tin and drop it off at the free recycling section of the transfer station.
• Use the What do I do with…? Web site to locate a private drop box.
• Appliances can be recycled at a number of locations for a fee. Use the What do I do with? Web site to find a location nearest you
• King County and many cities have recycling collection events that take scrap metal and appliances.

See What Happens to Your Recyclables in this 10 minute video (please choose your preferred video format)

• Windows Media variable speed format (Windows Media Player required - free download available)
• Real Media variable speed format (RealPlayer required - free download available)

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