Yesterday, I noted that Ros and I had collected a few cans whilst walking near our home. And, whilst today I forgot to bring a bag, we did collect four more cans to go in our recycling bin. But apart from the aesthetic value of doing so, I did wonder just how much good it does otherwise, so I've had a look.
Apparently, making an aluminium can from raw materials uses twenty times as much energy as doing so from recycled material. The energy saved by recycling just one aluminium can is enough to power a television set for three hours, so it seems like a no-brainer, really, except that the benefit to the person recycling the can is, at best, indirect.
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| reuse, recycle, etc... |
That said, if the soft drinks, or beer, producer can pay less for the can per unit, they either pass on those savings to purchasers, or pay out more in dividends to shareholders, either of which is probably a good thing. And yes, I acknowledge that they might pay more in terms of salary to senior staff - more likely, one might cynically conclude - but the possibility is still there, and if the market is working effectively, all of those things are likely.
The environmental benefits are slightly more explicit too. Aluminium smelting, apart from using a lot of energy, produces sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide, two of the nasties that form smog and acid rain, plus the process of extracting a ton of ore creates an equal weight in caustic mud.
You can recycle an aluminium can over and over again, multiplying the effect as much as six times per year - an recycled can is processed and back on the shelves in sixty days, it seems.
So. as we've apparently saved enough energy to power our television for a day, I can feel quite good about my day's effort...
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