Composition of tin cans and main recycling methods

Tin cans are made of hard, durable metal alloys. They are mainly used to store foods that need to be kept cold and may also have a limited shelf life due to their thickness. However, when foods with higher acid or sulfur content are stored in tin cans, they may change color due to prolonged contact with the tin cans.

A thin layer of plastic is combined with tin cans to make them more waterproof. These sometimes have narrow neck holes so that the neck of the tin can will not break and the contents will splash on the packaging itself. Plastic packaging is also widely used for food and beverages other than food because it is easy to clean between the plastic layers, although once the food in the can is stored, it may be difficult to clean the plastic surface. For a while this means that tin cans are better used for food storage than plastic packaging.

Tin cans usually have one of two standard sizes: small (0.9 mm) or large (2.5 mm). There are also tin cans smaller than half a pint and larger than five gallons. These larger size products are used for foods that may require a longer storage time than standard size cans, and for products that are not intended to be stored for a long time. Tin cans are also specially designed for special products (such as bottled water).

The recovery of tin cans is best done at the time of manufacture. This is because the steel contained in the tin can is a non-biodegradable material. Therefore, once the can is opened and the contents are taken out, the tin can must be taken out of the packaging and reused in another way. Therefore, the recycling of this material can help reduce waste in landfills and help protect the environment.

There are two main methods of recycling steel tanks: the first is called the two-piece method. In this method, the steel tank is divided into two halves, and then each half is placed on a separate piece of land or floor. The jars are stacked on top of each other and covered with a tarpaulin to protect them from the weather. Then one of the cans is removed from the stack for recycling, while the other can is left on the ground or the top layer of the ground for disposal. This recycling system produces a limited amount of material, so it is less than ideal compared to traditional one-piece methods. One of the disadvantages of using the two-piece recycling method is that it takes more effort to divide the can in two, and therefore costs more money.

Another viable option for recycling tin cans is to recycle the empty part of the tin cans. By occupying the blank area of ​​tin cans and using them to make different objects, such as bird feeders, garden tools or candle holders, people can greatly reduce the natural resources required to produce these objects. Recycling tin cans with empty parts will save consumers money and contribute to making the world greener.