Tag Archives: aluminum cans

Uncrushed Aluminum Can Infestation

by

We have an Infestation of Uncrushed Aluminum Cans!

Aluminum Cans

OMG, if you go into my garage, we have 2 full bags of uncrushed cans that are practically spilling over!  My family is sick and tired of looking at all of THOSE CANS!

I can’t blame them for wanting them gone, but this winter has been so cold, snowy and overall soul zapping, that I just didn’t have the spirit to try to eradicate them.

That will all change tomorrow though, I’m going to RAID the infestation and exterminate those nasty uncrushed cans!  You see, tomorrow the temperature is supposed to kiss at least the low 60s!  So I’m going to drag my son out into the garage to dig into them.

He started crushing cans to make money as an experiment.  In case you didn’t get a chance to read my article, it’s called, “Is Recycling Aluminum Cans Worth Doing Anymore?“.  In it, I examine if it’s really worth it to recycle cans.

Even though he likes the money and likes the environment impact that he is making, he still hates to crush the cans and does a sloppy job sometimes, but he’s only 10 years old. At first, I didn’t understand why he did such a sloppy job, but after spending a few hours crushing cans the last time, I understand. It’s because it’s a hard process, especially for a light 10-year-old!

Since that last time I crushed the cans, I’ve learned how to optimize the process so that the cans could be crushed both more optimally and quickly.

MR’s Improved Crushing Process:

  • First I use the can crusher shown below
  • Next, I’ve learned to slightly bend the can siding so that it’s just a very slight bend to it.  Too much bend and the can buckles.  When the can buckles it bends and you get a bad crush since it just bends in half.  By slightly bending the can, the act of crushing the can is at least twice as easy to do in the can crusher device!  That’s because when it’s unbent, it has structural strength!  But a slight dent on the can wall is it’s Achilles heel, making it easier to crush.
  • Crush the cans above ground level and drop the can in the bag that’s directly below the crusher and can.  This makes it much nicer on your back.

Can Crusher

It’s good to find little tricks of the trade, and just a little bend on the can container makes a huge difference!

I’m looking forward to getting rid of the cans along with the bad weather!

-MR

Did you like this article?  Then please subscribe to my RSS feed so you can check out new articles when they become available.  You will help this blog grow by doing so!  Thanks!

Recycling Aluminum Cans Update, A New Center

by
Getting Paid for recycling

Getting Paid for recycling

My son started recycling Aluminum Cans as part of a school fundraiser so his 4th grade class could go on a special annual road trip to our capital.

Starting the Recycling Process

After the school fundraiser was over, my son realize that there was money to be had. and it helped the planet.  So showing off his budding entrepreneurial skills, he wanted to continue the recycling aluminum can activity.

So we collected cans for a few months, both my son and I crushed the cans, but I did the majority of the crushing.  My son didn’t get to experience the bagging of the cans, the transportation of the cans to the recycling center, the weighing of the cans, and finally the money received for delivering the crushed cans.  It was an interesting experience going to the recycling center, and not what I imagined it would look like.

Expanding the Experience

While driving about doing Christmas activities, my wife unintentionally discovered a recycling center in out local city near the edge of town.  Knowing that my son didn’t get to experience much of the recycling experience, she suggested next that I go there and take him along too.

This was a fabulous idea!  My only concern would be that this company is a middleman company that’s going to pay us a lower rate, but even if my fear is true, that could be a great learning opportunity for my son!  I could explain to my son how this middleman company just collects the cans paying the people a lower payout than the payout that we received when I took them to the larger recycler up where I work at.

Conclusion

I’m excited about the local recycling center that my wife found!  This will broaden my son’s experience with the entire aluminum can recycling process!  Once we get the next bag full ready, I think I will let him do the talking with the people at the new center.  I will just be backup in case something isn’t clear.

I’m look forward to seeing my son expand his business experience with this small venture!

-MR

Did you like this Article?  Then please subscribe to my RSS feed so you can check out new articles when they become available.  You will help this blog grow by doing so!  Thanks!

Getting Paid for Recycling Aluminum Cans Update

by

Getting Paid for recycling

Getting Paid for recycling

Getting Paid!

At my son’s school, they had the kids collect aluminum cans for a school trip to the big city in my state.  It was a win-win because the kids paid for their trip by doing something beneficial for the planet…

After the trip was over, I encouraged my son to continue to collect the cans as a money-making experiment!  I told him I would find a way to get money for the cans that he collected and crushed.

After he starting collecting the cans, I wasn’t sure if I could find a place to turn in the cans for money after all. I created the post called:  “Is Recycling Aluminum Cans Worth Doing Anymore?” because of doubts that it would be worth it (especially taking in a long drive to do so).

Well I’m happy to say that I did find a recycling plant and as an added bonus, it was less than 2 miles away from where I work!

So what was the payout that my son got paid?

For the 16 lbs of the crushed cans that I took in, he received $10.40! The price per can turned out to be 65 cents per lbs!

I was actually quite surprised with the payout!  I thought that cans were going for 40 cents per lbs in my area, so I expected a number closer to $6.00 for the single bag I took to the recycling plant.

It was a pleasant surprise for the both of us!

A side perk of recycling the aluminum cans was that I found out that the recycling plant also take many other metals too.  And the biggest find was that they take old computer and monitors for free!

Our experiment is now done, but we both are much better at the entire process, so who know…  I may continue the process…

Have you ever considered participating in a recycling program?

If you don’t care about getting money for your recycling efforts, check out nearby fire stations, call them and ask if they take aluminum cans or plastic water bottles.  I know that they will recycle the cans and give the money to burn victims, or at least that’s the case in our area!

-MR

Did you like this Article?  Then subscribe to my RSS feed so you can check out new articles when they become available.


Is Recycling Aluminum Cans Worth Doing Anymore?

by

At one time, it was worth it for people to recycle aluminum cans for money.

So I thought it would be a good experience for my kids to the same, but I’m not so sure now!  You see, advances in technology have made it possible for the aluminum in the cans to be stretch so far, that the can wall are almost as thin as paper.  This, in turn, produces a much cheaper can!

While it might be worth it for kids, the hourly earning rate for crushing 5 cans a minute may not be worth it for adults.

See my calculations in the table below:

Recycling costs

Aluminum Statistics

The tricky part is that the aluminum prices vary weekly and by state.  So in my state, aluminum is going for .40 cents per lbs.  In some states (Michigan and California) people can get a specific money amount for aluminum cans.  For example, in Michigan the rate is 10 cents per can, in these cases, the effort would be worth it.

The 10 cents rate per aluminum can is much higher than my home state (Ohio).  We typically only get 1.3 cents per can.  In fact, a state like Michigan (which has such a great return policy) would have a rate of pay of around $30 per hour to crush cans!  There have even been scams where people (mainly store owners) from surrounding states take their cans over to Michigan for reimbursements.

Now back to my state, do you think $3.75 is a good rate of pay for a 10-year-old to crush aluminum cans?  I personally don’t think it is.  Especially when you factor in the gas money it will take to get the cans to the recycling center and the cost of the plastic trash bag to gather them in.

Update: We are trying to decide whether to have my son collect cans to make money off of them, or to drop off at the local Fire Department.  The Fire Department takes the cans as part of a charity effort.

I called a metal recycling center after this article was posted, and the aluminum rates are currently .60 cents per lbs in my state (Ohio)!  So the current price is actually 50% higher than the .40 cents per lbs price that I initially used in this article!  This just goes to show how much aluminum prices can fluctuate.

So revising my calculated number for hourly pay rate for crushing aluminum cans, the new pay rate would be 50% higher too, so it would be $5.63 per hour spent crushing cans!  This revised rate is a bit better for a 10-year-old, so perhaps it is worth it to a 10-year-old?

Cheers,

-MR

Did you like this article?  Then please follow me on twitter so you can check out the new articles I post and what’s going on.  You will help this blog grow by doing so!  Thanks!