Melting the most.Alcan Inc., Cleveland, has announced a new aluminum used beverage container (UBC UBC Uniform Building Code UBC University of British Columbia UBC Union of the Baltic Cities UBC United Brotherhood of Carpenters UBC Universal Battery Charger UBC Union of Baltic Cities UBC Universal Bibliographic Control UBC Used Beverage Cans ) recycling recycling, the process of recovering and reusing waste products—from household use, manufacturing, agriculture, and business—and thereby reducing their burden on the environment. record. The company says that in 2002 its facilities melted 24 billion UBCs--an increase of 2 billion aluminum cans from the prior year. Alcan, which bills itself as the world's largest recycler of UBCs, recycled 45 percent of all the UBCs collected in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . The company completes the closed loop recycling process at its three U.S. recycling facilities by processing UBCs into aluminum ingots that are used to manufacture new aluminum can sheet. Alcan's recycling process saves 95 percent of the energy that would be required to produce aluminum from raw materials. "Aluminum is a valuable metal that should not be buried in landfills because it is infinitely recyclable re·cy·cle tr.v. re·cy·cled, re·cy·cling, re·cy·cles 1. To put or pass through a cycle again, as for further treatment. 2. To start a different cycle in. 3. a. ," states Martha Finn Brooks, president of Alcan Rolled Products Americas and Asia. "As a leader in recycling, we are committed to educating the consumer and public officials about the economic value and environmental benefits of aluminum recycling." Alcan's efforts include providing information to municipalities about how the high value of recyclable aluminum can help pay for a comprehensive curbside curb·side n. 1. The side of a pavement or street that is bordered by a curb. 2. A sidewalk. adj. Located, operating, or occurring at or along the sidewalk or curb: recycling program. In curbside collections, aluminum earns from 10 to 20 times more by weight than plastic, glass and other materials. Used aluminum beverage cans A beverage can is most often an aluminium can manufactured to hold a single serving of a beverage. Overview The early metal beverage can was made out of steel (similar to a tin can) and had no pull-tab. have a value greater than $1,000 per ton, notes Brooks. Alcan operates aluminum can recycling plants that melt UBCs in Berea, Ky,; Oswego, N.Y.; and Greensboro, Ga. The Alcan Berea plant is the world's largest melting facility devoted exclusively to recycling UBCs. |
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