Recycling bank

Recycling plant

How does recycling happen?

Recycling aluminium

1. Aluminium cans and foil are collected and taken to a reprocessing plant.
2. The aluminium is sorted and cleaned.
3. The aluminium is heated so that paint coatings burn off and liquid aluminium forms.
4. The aluminium is then made into large blocks called ingots. Each ingot contains about 1.6 million drink cans.
5. Ingots are sent to mills to be rolled out into sheets of aluminium.
6. Aluminium sheets can be made into drinks cans, chocolate wrapping and ready meal packaging less than 6 weeks after it was taken to the recycling plant.