Getting "Rid Of" your Aluminum Cans

[flyerdan]

If your state had a deposit on cans and bottles, the problem would disappear. Stores here take the empties back, but the state also runs recycling centers. If you return empties at my largest local grocer, they give double credit on purchases, so $10 in returns (100 containers) is worth $20 in groceries.

Which store does that? I know if you have the bag drop program card (which I do), you can avoid the lines for the machines and get 20% more at certain stores, but I didn't think stores took cans back anymore.

 

[beowulf]

We keep them, and also pay our grand daughters for any cans they keep out of their trash - usually a couple of dollars. (their dad throws them away). They are excited to bank the money and participate in the recycling and it gives an opportunity to explain recycling etc.

You can also likely find a local school or charity that collects the cans and donate there - may be closer to you than other options.

 

[Oaktree]

Our county has several free drop off locations for paper, cardboard , cans and bottles. Drop the cans and bottles off together and machines and county prisoners sort them. Prisoners get money to spend on snacks and cigarettes at the jail. Plus the recycling center let's them smoke on breaks. Prisoners love getting out of jail for a shift and easily volunteer.

We recycle everything we can and compost garbage. Every 3 to 3 weeks we have a single bag of trash that costs $2.50 to drop off at recycling location.

Counties here don't provide services like that, but most town's transfer stations have bins for recyclables...#1 & #2 plastic, aluminum cans, other aluminum (pie tins, cat food cans, foil, etc.), glass and cardboard. The town makes a little money on it and saves tipping fees. No municipal trash collection here, so 'most everyone goes to the dump.

We also recycle as much as possible and compost. Paper gets burned. Takes us a couple weeks to fill a kitchen-size garbage bag.

I do save cans and take them to the scrap dealer once a year. Don't make a lot on it...scrap metal prices seem to go down every year, but it beats throwing it away.

 

[Diggin It]

Just north of us in Michigan, they have a 10 cent deposit with the return machines in many places. If I lived there, I'd use it.

 

[Fuddy1952]

My wife and I throw out lots of aluminum cans. I just called local recyclers and they pay 24 cents/pound.

I weighed a can, 0.7oz.

I did the math and works out to be a penny a can. Bottom line for me it's not worth my time/fuel to go to recycler. Even at 6 cans/day...that's $1.80/month!!!!!
If we got 10c/can then I'd be more likely to recycle.
About 40 years ago I had a friend who worked for a recycler for a while. The company had a trailer at a K-Mart parking lot, he would weigh bag of cans and pay. Back then aluminium was bringing right much money. Trouble was people would bring in cans filled with rocks!
Here we have dumpster sites, each one about 4-5 miles away. We don't recycle. Couple weeks ago I threw out a truckload of old fence posts and there were a couple of new bicycles someone before me had thrown out!

 

[workinonit]

We use very few things that are packaged in aluminum cans. A few things packaged in tin cans and glass that get thrown away. Drink almost no carbonated drinks and water out of that antiquated thing that we refer to as a tap. I make sweet tea by the gallons and live off of it. It tastes better out of a real glass.

 

[NorTracNY]

I'm in NY, so we have deposits. I just hate how it's implemented. It only applies to some drinks. It's not all plastic bottles or all Al cans. If you want recycling, make it uniform based upon the material. We don't buy much drink that comes in the deposit containers, but we certainly have plastic and Al containers. I just have to have several bins which I go to a drop off place every 3-6 weeks with when I take my trash.

 

[Diggin It]

^^^ I never understood that. If you buy Squirt or 7Up, there's a deposit, but not if you buy CountryTime Lemonade in exactly the same 12 oz can.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^ I never understood that. If you buy Squirt or 7Up, there's a deposit, but not if you buy CountryTime Lemonade in exactly the same 12 oz can.

The lemonade people had better lobbyists. In truth, that's what it comes down to. I believe we were the second state in the nation to enact a bottle bill, around the time I got out of high school. We always found it was a lot more fun though to throw the bottles at signs... especially since we were underaged and not supposed to be emptying them in the first place.

 

[Jstpssng]

PS; Do you mean they still make 7 Up?