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Aluminum and Tin Cans - What's in our garbage - Garbage & recycling services

Aluminum and tin cans are resources

8,548 tons were disposed of at the landfill in 2019

What are they?

Aluminum and tin are non-ferrous metals which means they do not contain iron. Among other things, they are used to make many types of food and beverage cans. These cans are easy and inexpensive to recycle.

Why recycle cans?

Cans in the landfill are a wasted resource. Recycling metal requires significantly fewer resources than virgin metal extraction. It is much less environmentally damaging and less expensive than mining, concentrating and smelting the raw materials.

King County waste stream graph
Eighty percent of materials thrown away are resources – not waste.

Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours. Over 173 million aluminum cans were disposed of at the landfill in King County in 2008. The energy that could have been saved by recycling those cans could power a television for 59,528 years!

What can you do?


Related Information

  • King County’s Zero Waste program is a guiding principle for all waste reduction and recycling programs.
  • Recycle More. It's Easy To Do. Although most King County residents say they participate in their curbside recycling program, more than half of what ends up in the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill is readily recyclable.
  • Compost More. Waste Less. Food scraps and food soiled paper break down into compost, a soil amendment that enriches soil and improves plant health.
  • King County’s Zero Waste program is a guiding principle for all waste reduction and recycling programs.
King County Solid Waste Division mission: Waste Prevention, Resource Recovery, Waste Disposal

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