Getting "Rid Of" your Aluminum Cans

[Diggin It]

One day I saw him in the park across the street from our house getting attacked by an old woman with a shovel. She was trying to move him out of "her" park. He just stood there and took the blows to his back. Whack! Whack! I called the cops and they hauled her off. Yikes!

 

[bigtiller]

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.

In Iowa, it is just carbonated drinks that are in return-for -deposit containers. I think a few states have expanded that to include other drinks but I'm not sure which states did that.

 

[ultrarunner]

We have mandated recycling and deposit law...

Problem is the stations that collect and refund deposits have went belly-up... not sure where the millions and millions collected goes...

Curbside recycling is available but you are out deposit.

One caveat is putting recyclables in trash will generate a fine and we do have recycle police...

I had a brand new never used 32 gallon trash can that was never picked up as I use the 20 gallon weekly service...

Started using the tote for aluminum cans and sure enough got a written warning for placing recyclables in the trash... never mind the brand new trash tote was never ever used for trash and other recyclables properly in my grey recycle tote...

 

[user.69169]

I got bored soakin aluminum off de plastic wid toilet cleaner, so plan B' load in truck and back up to bottle place gives me a nickle a can.

NY give authority over bottle deposit to Possum police, so dey can be kept off bugging hunters by makin complaint store won't take bottle back.

Good thing no deposit on most bottles here. I cut dem nice Welches juice bottles down for drawer separators in tool cabinet. Already paid for dee bottle, can't see sense to paying for plastic drawer box.

 

[hslogger]

Oregon west of the cascades makes a concentrated effort to recycle. There is a mandated bottle and can bill with recovery stations here and there. There are dumpsters at waste contractors where you can throw cardboard, metal and plastic cans, paper, and still some plastics even though that probably ends up in the landfill because China won't take our spoils anymore. There was a time in this country where every piece of metal went to a war effort and nothing was wasted. Recycling comes down to a consciousness and you can not give a RA about it or help. It didn't come naturally and took activists to raise concern and demand that we quit wasting so much.

 

[ultrarunner]

Oregon west of the cascades makes a concentrated effort to recycle. There is a mandated bottle and can bill with recovery stations here and there. There are dumpsters at waste contractors where you can throw cardboard, metal and plastic cans, paper, and still some plastics even though that probably ends up in the landfill because China won't take our spoils anymore. There was a time in this country where every piece of metal went to a war effort and nothing was wasted. Recycling comes down to a consciousness and you can not give a RA about it or help. It didn't come naturally and took activists to raise concern and demand that we quit wasting so much.

As mentioned, recycling has a long history... growing up deposit bottles exchanged at the market for full.

All through scouting we did paper drives and did well...

The church did glass recycling for decades with segregated glass bringing a penny per pound.

Thirty plus years managing residential rentals some families generate volumes of trash or mountains... It is sobering seeing all the made in China Christmas gifts in the dumpster months later... bikes only having a flat tire... Computers, Printers, TV and lots of broken furniture. Maybe people use to fix/repair than toss?

It is troublesome seeing carefully placed recyclables ending up in landfills as there is no market for it.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

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.

Sherm's Thunderbird. They are Southern Oregon only, and dominate the grocery market here. Their prices are as good as Costco, with a much larger selection. Plus, whoever the buyer is actually tastes the food he buys. You can get alder smoked coho out of Seattle for $6.97/lb. this week, and it's delicious. It's a U-bag-it store, and is huge. They also have bulk food and restaurant pack food, including frozen foods.

Sherm's - for Store 47865

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Portland has many many of those can machines. Portland Oregon. Usually in grocery store parking lots.

Take a minute and watch. You could write a dissertation on the aluminum can culture.

Here's where politics screws it up again. Two big industries in Oregon are wine and bottled water. Coincidentally those are the only 2 beverage container types that do not have deposits. Funny how that works.

The end result is, the street people go thru your garbage and take everything but the wine and water bottles.

Some residents separate them before they put them out, makes for less mess that way.

Water bottles up to 2 liters have a 10 cent deposit. So do drinks like Gatorade and energy drinks.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Don't give them any ideas. Waay too many BS laws already, don't need any more.

The only justification for any law is the failure of personal responsibility. Any time there is a new law, the scammers, crooks and slobs are to blame. They steal our freedom.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Around here they go in the semi-mandatory recycle bins by trash collectors. I stop at the metal recycler's yard often and do not see the piles of aluminum cans like you used to. Price is way down so no one bothers, poor return. I can tell when the price of scrap is down as the piles get huge at the recyclers yard waiting for an increase.

Ron

 

[Frankenkubota]

^^^ 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.

It's called lobbyists. As i said, in oregon you pay depo on coke cans but not wine bottles or water bottles.

Again, water and wine are big business in oregon. I assure you the lobbyists for the wine and water industry paid off someone in the oregon legislation.

I have not thought of Squirt in a long time!

That's exactly how it works.

 

[KennyG]

One other change that has impacted the economics of aluminum can recycling is the weight of the can. The effort to collect them remains the same but the weight of the can was about 3 ounces when they were first introduced and is about 1/2 ounce now.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Around here they go in the semi-mandatory recycle bins by trash collectors. I stop at the metal recycler's yard often and do not see the piles of aluminum cans like you used to. Price is way down so no one bothers, poor return. I can tell when the price of scrap is down as the piles get huge at the recyclers yard waiting for an increase.

Ron

Apparently it is different down here South of you as I was paid $1.65 per lb. a few days ago. That of course includes the Ca. CRV that you pay when you buy the product but is still a lot more than I have ever been paid for aluminum. We don't even fool with the plastic bottles as they take up too much space and don't pay enough.

 

[oosik]

We use to save all our AL cans and take them into the recycle plant in Spokane. It paid for the cost of fuel and bought a nice lunch for both the wife and I. I no longer get any product in AL cans and based upon our last trip - it's no great loss. AL recovery value is so volatile.

 

[bcp]

Several hundred years from now our landfills will be valuable mining properties.



Bruce

 

[sandman2234]

One other change that has impacted the economics of aluminum can recycling is the weight of the can. The effort to collect them remains the same but the weight of the can was about 3 ounces when they were first introduced and is about 1/2 ounce now.

My Father in Law worked at a can manufacturing company, and I would listen to him tell stories of the thickness of the can as it was stamped. Another aluminum saver was the little taper at the top of the can, which allowed a considerable savings in the size of the top which is a little thicker than the can itself. The guy that got credit for making the taper at the top to save aluminum got a percentage of the savings over a period of time as a bonus. I don't remember the amount, but it was a serious bonus!
David from jax

 

[Oaktree]

I no longer get any product in AL cans and based upon our last trip - it's no great loss. AL recovery value is so volatile.

I don't drink a lot of soda (and beer almost not at all), but I do pick up cans along the roadside. Good excuse to get some exercise & fresh air, and I make a little money. A few people save cans for us as well.
Scrap metal yard is on the way to one of my worksites so it doesn't require a special trip.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

It's called lobbyists. As i said, in oregon you pay depo on coke cans but not wine bottles or water bottles.

Again, water and wine are big business in oregon. I assure you the lobbyists for the wine and water industry paid off someone in the oregon legislation.

I have not thought of Squirt in a long time!

That's exactly how it works.

You are mistaken.

Under the current Oregon law, people pay a 10-cent container deposit when they buy all beverage containers three liters or less in size, except distilled liquor, wine, dairy or plant-based milk, and infant formula.

State of Oregon: Recycling - Oregon's Evolving Bottle Bill.

 

[Deere Dude]

We crush our aluminum cans and wash and store the tin cans. I plan on doing a little welding and turn my electric wood splitter in to a can crusher. I figure a 55 gallon barrel will hold several years worth of flattened cans. Haul it all to the dump every few years.

X2
Haha. That's exactly what I did. I got sick of having a full garbage can of washed tin cans only worth a buck so now every time my wife fills a plastic bag full I take it to the shop and have a splitter can smashing party. I am surprised and how small a 6 ton splitter squashes them. Still maybe not worth it but is relaxing.

 

[Doofy]

X2
Haha. That's exactly what I did. I got sick of having a full garbage can of washed tin cans only worth a buck so now every time my wife fills a plastic bag full I take it to the shop and have a splitter can smashing party. I am surprised and how small a 6 ton splitter squashes them. Still maybe not worth it but is relaxing.

Good for you! I split my wood in the Fall so the little splitter just sits there for the rest of the year. I enjoy puttering so the can -crusher mod is ideal.