Steel
What can be recycled?
Food cans, aerosol cans
Why it wants to be recycled
Recovered steel can be re-melted and used again and again to produce new steel products. For every ton of steel recycled, 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone are conserved. Recycling steel saves nearly 74% of the energy used to produce it from raw materials — that’s enough energy to power about 18 million homes for a full year.
How to recycle it
Look for curbside recycling bins, local recycling drop-offs, or scrap buy-back centers.
What does recycled steel become?
Steel is collected, separated from other materials by a magnet, and crushed into large bales. The bales are shipped to steel mills where they are melted in a furnace to make new steel. Steel packaging, car bodies, appliances, and steel framing use a minimum average of 22% recycled steel. Products such as structural sections and bridge spans use virtually 100% recycled steel.
Did you know?
Steel is the most recycled material in North America. Each year, more steel is recycled than aluminum, paper, glass, and plastic combined!
Mythbuster
MYTH: You must remove paper labels before recycling steel cans.
FACT: There’s no need to remove paper labels — they burn off in the recycling process.
Super Sorter
Recycle different kinds of materials. Sort fast and give trash a new life!
Recycling Journey
See how recycled materials can be transformed into new, exciting and useful things.