J&B Recycling Knowledge

Aluminium cans are a familiar part of everyday life. From soft drinks and beer to tinned foods, millions of cans are used across the UK every day. But what makes aluminium cans stand out is not just their convenience - it’s the fact that they are one of the most recyclable items in circulation.

At J&B Recycling, we’ve been helping local authorities and businesses across the North East recover and recycle aluminium cans at our Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Hartlepool for many years. By keeping aluminium in the loop, we’re not only reducing waste but also protecting valuable natural resources.

Aluminium itself is a valuable but finite resource. It is produced from bauxite ore, which is mined from the earth in a process that is both energy intensive and environmentally damaging. Mining operations consume vast amounts of energy, remove large areas of land, and generate significant greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why recycling aluminium is so important. Every tonne of recycled aluminium saves around nine tonnes of CO₂ emissions compared to producing it from raw materials, and it uses up to 95% less energy. The more aluminium we recycle, the less we need to mine, which in turn protects finite resources, reduces environmental harm, and cuts carbon emissions.

Unlike many other packaging materials, aluminium does not degrade when it is recycled. That means it can be used again and again without losing quality. An aluminium can recycled today could be back on the shelf as a brand-new can in just 60 days. This infinite recyclability makes aluminium cans one of the best examples of a circular economy in action. Rather than being used once and thrown away, the same material can keep circulating, saving energy, reducing waste, and cutting reliance on new raw materials.

When mixed recycling arrives at our Hartlepool MRF, aluminium cans come in alongside plastics, cardboard, and other materials. To recover them, we use advanced technology such as eddy current separators, which use powerful magnetic fields to push aluminium away from other items. This produces a clean stream of aluminium cans with minimal contamination. Once separated, the cans are baled and sent to UK reprocessors, ensuring they remain within the country’s recycling system.

At specialist facilities, the cans are shredded into small pieces before being thoroughly cleaned to remove any coatings and inks. The aluminium is then melted in a furnace and rolled into thin sheets. These sheets are used to create new products, most often more cans. This process can be repeated endlessly without any loss of quality, which is why aluminium is such a valuable material. In fact, most of the cans you see on supermarket shelves will already contain a high percentage of recycled aluminium.

Recycling aluminium cans has clear benefits for both the environment and the economy. It saves huge amounts of energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and means less mining of finite bauxite ore. It also provides a constant supply of high-quality material for manufacturers and supports jobs within the UK recycling industry. With cans able to return to supermarket shelves in as little as 60 days, it’s one of the fastest and most effective recycling loops in operation today.

At J&B Recycling, we work closely with local authorities and businesses to capture as many aluminium cans as possible. The cleaner and higher-quality the material we recover, the more value it creates for recycling and the better the environmental outcomes. By investing in technology and focusing on reducing contamination, we’re helping to keep aluminium in circulation, supporting the circular economy, and contributing to a more sustainable future.