About 46.7% of all steel cans consumed in Brazil are recycled every year.
Steel is a fully recyclable metal and can be returned to the market in different forms: from cars, refrigerators and appliances to various accessories, such as scissors and door handles. According to the NGO Cempre (Compromisso Empresarial para Reciclagem), around 46.7% of all steel cans consumed in Brazil are recycled every year.
This amount includes: beverage cans; foods such as peas, corn and sardines; paints; spackle and other chemicals. In addition to generating income for the scavengers who collect these materials, recycling these items saves the environment.
Recicla listed 10 curiosities that make the recycling of steel cans so valuable and important for the planet. Check out!
For every ton of recycled steel cans, around 1.5 tons of iron ore are not extracted from nature;
For every 75 recycled steel packaging, the equivalent of a tree is saved, because it is used as charcoal for the production of virgin raw material;
When it decomposes in nature, the steel can returns to its original state, turning into iron oxide, and this process takes from 3 to 10 years to degrade naturally. Its decomposition does not compromise the soil or the environment;
When correctly collected and sent to recycling plants, the can can be transformed into steel again, serving as raw material for the manufacture of new products. This process can be repeated several times, as the material is infinitely recyclable;
To get an idea of the energy savings that can recycling can provide, 100 kilos of these recycled materials is equivalent to saving three hours of a TV on;
More than 20 billion steel cans are recycled every year around the world;
All steel cans are manufactured from up to 25% of scrap metal;
In the United States, 100 million steel cans are used every day;
By recycling steel, steelmakers are able to save energy equivalent to supplying 18 million homes per year;
Recycling the cans and transforming them into steel saves:
70% of energy expenditure of a steel plant
90% from the use of a virgin raw material
40% from water consumption and reduces
76% of pollutants in water
86% of air pollutants
97% from mining waste
