Benefits of Recycling Tin

Benefits of Recycling Tin

When we recycle tin cans or tin boxes, it has a significant impact on both the environment and the industry. Choosing to recycle tins instead of throwing them away in a landfill is extremely important. Tin is made of steel, a valuable natural resource, but it is challenging to extract and refine.

By reusing tin through recycling, the entire planet benefits in numerous ways. Some of the advantages of recycling tins include:

1. Slowing Resource Depletion

Steel is a valuable resource that makes up around eight percent of the earth’s total resources. Although it is abundant, its supply is limited because we cannot create it artificially. Once the natural sources of steel are used up, we will have to rely on recycling to meet our needs.

Recycling steel is much easier than mining it, and this is one of the major advantages of the recycling process. Steel can be recycled repeatedly without losing its quality or usefulness. To give you an idea, even today, 75 percent of all the tin cans and tin boxes ever made are still being used. According to the Metal Association, in 2012, 67 percent of cans were recycled, and a remarkable 90 percent of the tin and aluminum used in car parts and buildings comes from recycling.

2. Decreases Industrial Pollution

Recycling tin has two important benefits: reducing the need for mining and preventing pollution. Mining for raw tin disturbs the land and causes air and water pollution. Strip mines expose layers of the earth and leave behind hazardous waste. Wind can spread these particles into the air. Growing plants on mining waste helps prevent erosion and reduces pollution. The polluted water from mining sites can contaminate rivers and groundwater, making it costly and limited for irrigation and drinking. Recycling tin helps minimize these environmental problems.

3. Saving Electricity

After mining, bauxite is taken to a smelting plant where it requires a lot of electricity to separate the steel. Steel is stable, so it takes high heat and energy to break its bonds. Smelters often have their own power plants because they need more electricity than the local supply can handle. For example, Rio Tinto, a major steel producer, owns 11 power plants to meet their operational needs.

4. Reducing the Heat-loving Gases in the Atmosphere

Recycling tin helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is really good for the environment in the long run. When tin is smelted, power plants use coal or natural gas to make electricity, and both of these produce carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming.

Smelting tin also releases a harmful gas called perfluorocarbon, which is much worse for the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Not only do these power plants emit harmful gases, but they also waste a lot of fuel. For example, gas power plants wasted 57% of the gas they used to produce electricity in 2014, and coal-fired power plants wasted 67%. This waste from natural gas goes up the smokestacks as gases and coal-fired power plants produce both solid waste and gases that harm the environment.

Rectangle Tin Can Embossing

5. Reduces Solid Waste

Tin cans thrown away in a landfill don’t break down, even after many years. These cans are considered waste and take up a significant amount of space in landfills.

When we recycle tin cans and boxes, we reduce the amount of space taken up by them in landfills. This, in turn, leaves more room for materials that can decompose naturally. Recycling tin cans is a closed system, meaning it doesn’t create any additional waste.

Limitations of Recycling Tin: The Cost of Recycling

While the recycling of tins is very beneficial to the environment, industry, and the economy, there are a few drawbacks. Here are some of them:

The Cost of Recycling

Recycling tin cans can be costly due to various factors. It involves collecting and sorting the cans, transporting them to recycling facilities, and processing them through cleaning, shredding, and melting. The initial investment in recycling infrastructure is also significant. Market demand for recycled tin and the presence of contaminants can affect costs. Despite the expenses, recycling tin cans is beneficial for the environment. Advancements in technology and increased participation can make recycling more cost-effective in the future.

How Tin Cans and Tin Boxes Are Recycled

Tin cans and tin boxes undergo a specific recycling process to be reused and transformed into new products. Here is a simplified explanation of how tin cans and tin boxes are recycled:

1. Collection: Tin cans and tin boxes are collected through various channels, including curbside recycling programs, drop-off centers, and recycling bins.

2. Sorting: Once collected, the tin cans and tin boxes are sorted based on their material type. This is typically done using automated sorting machines or manual sorting by trained personnel.

3. Cleaning and Preparation: The sorted tin cans and tin boxes go through a cleaning process to remove any remaining contents or contaminants. Labels and coatings are also removed.

4. Shredding and Melting: After cleaning, the cans and boxes are shredded into smaller pieces. These shredded pieces are then heated in a furnace to melt the metal, which removes any impurities.

5. Refining: The melted metal is further refined to eliminate any remaining impurities and ensure the purity of the tin. This is typically done through processes like electrolysis or other refining techniques.

6. Forming into New Products: The refined tin is then cooled and shaped into new products. It can be used to make a variety of items such as new tin cans, tin containers, or other metal products.

7. Distribution and Sale: The recycled tin products are distributed to manufacturers or other industries that use them as raw materials in their production processes.

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