Where you should put recycling products.

Glass, Steel, Aluminum Cans and Foil

Glass, steel (or "tin") and aluminum are easy to recognize and recycle. For clarity, a recycling symbol should be present, but most people have little trouble sorting these materials. Glass bottles must not be mixed with other types of glass such as windows, light bulbs, mirrors, glass tableware, Pyrex or auto glass. Ceramics contaminate glass and are difficult to sort out. Clear glass is the most valuable. Mixed color glass is near worthless, and broken glass is hard to sort.

There have been marketing experiments with plastic and steel cans that look exactly like aluminum cans. Recycling plants have been damaged by these fakes. The distinctive shape of an aluminum beverage can must be reserved for aluminum beverage cans only (C).

It is no longer necessary to remove labels for recycling. To save water, clean only enough to prevent odors. Unlike with plastics, the high temperature of glass and metal processing deals easily with contamination.

Scrap aluminum is accepted in many places. Other metals are rarely accepted.