Recycling aluminium and other household waste

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golden mean

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Does anyone know if there is anywhere to recycle aluminium other than cans? I am thinking mainly of food trays. afaik they are made of aluminium and extracting that is one of the most energy-hungry processes going- so how come there seems to be no demand for used alu stuff?

*Political incorrectness warning*
Being cynical for a moment, does anyone know what market there is for ANY recycled stuff- I notice that in all their blurbs the council are pretty vague about what happens any of the stuff I so diligently wash, sort and cart down to the "bring centre". Sometimes I wonder why I bother (other than for the exercise)
 
Can you 'reduce' instead of 'recycle' by finding the same product sold without the aluminium tray?
 
RainyDay- reasonable question but lots of baked goods come on those trays because they protect the food well and can go in the oven (think pies) and takeaways often use them too- the alternatives being less recyclable plastic and polystyrene products. (Yes yes I could bake my own apple tarts and stop eating takeaways but....)

My point was that aluminium IS very recyclable and is a prime example of something which it makes sense to recycle since making "new" aluminium uses so much energy. So I am wondering why so much effort goes into recycling things like cardboard (which is pretty harmless in landfill and for which new trees can be planted) and glass (which is made from sand and offers very little benefit in term of energy saving in making new glass (the CoCo say that if new glass is made from 50% old glass it uses only 10% less energy)). Even steel cans will rust away eventually in landfill. So why is it that the things which DON'T degrade so successfully are the hardest to get recycled?

That is why it seems to me that the recycling effort is based mainly on people reducing their pay by weight bill by separating heavy things like paper and glass while the more troublesome stuff, like aluminium, is still being thrown away after one use. I also have a strong suspicion that rising land prices are a big factor in the CoCo wanting to reduce landfill. Fair enough, but why not say that, instead of presenting it as something which is making a real difference? Really, when I see people drive up in their big cars to drop off a bag of newspapers I wonder if we are all fooling ourselves.

As I said, if there was some evidence that stuff using finite resources was actually being reused there would be no one happier than myself. I am after all an active participant in this process and I'd like to know that all that lovely drinking water I use to wash my rubbish is not being squandered.

And yes, I did ask the CoCo where the plastic goes. "To Thornton's". And I asked why I couldn't leave more aluminium. "No one will take it."
 
Hi Golden - I guess I was thinking about the sturdier baking tins that I've seen with some joints of meat, which seem like a huge waste of resources to me. I don't have the answer to your question - If other posters can't help, try the environment dept at your local authority - you should find someone there who is passionate about recycling (though it probably won't be the person who answers the phone in the first instance).
 
The problem with recycling aluminium containers like the ones that takeaways come in is that the quanitity of metal in the tray is so small and the energy required to clean the tray, and smelt etc wouldn't justify recycling these small trays. That's my understanding of it anyway. On the other hand alum. drink cans are generally clean (no grease or fat!) and easily collected in the large quantities that make collection and recycling a reasonable proposition. I often wonder where our recyclables end up, given the efforts we go to to clean the recyclables and segregate waste etc, but you've got to try I guess.
 
I reckon that if you think it should be recyclable then put it in the recycle bin and let the recycle company sort it out. If they get enough of a particular type of item (invited or not) they might find an application for it.
 
Thanks for that Circle- good news! I am more confused then ever now though- if there is an outlet for this stuff, why don't all the big bring centres take it? I must tackle the CoCo again on that one.The plot thickens....

And since we are in an ask about money place, does anyone know if the council gets anything for any of this waste, or it is the case that they have to pay someone to take it off their hands?

I am kind of fascintaed by this "rubbishy" topic- all gems of information gratefully received for recycling (by me)
 
Someone told me that I could just put aluminium food trays in with tins, and that's what I've been doing. Is this wrong? Re-cycling is pretty confusing sometimes. You can re-cycle 'soft' plastic, and plastic bottles - but not plastic food trays. And on Sunday I brought my garden waste to the centre to find Dublin City council don't take garden waste anymore.
 
If you happen to be in Wickla, you can bring pretty much any metal to the Avoca recycling centre, scrap alu, metal biscuit tins, coat hangers etc. Also take fridges etc free (what your WEEE costs on new products pay for).
Take pretty much all forms of plastic, both graded and "soft" ungraded.

Mind you, the main guy running it "Miley", is the business for getting as much stuff recyled as possible. There are even hazardouse waste pick ups one or twice a year.
No I don't work for the council! I believe the other Wicklow centres in the Murrough Wicklow town, and in Arklow do not have quite the same range of recycing
 
this may have come up before so sorry in advance but does anyone know if the plastic flower pots and containers thay plants come in can be recycled?
 
look for the grading on the bottom, If it has a small triangle on the bottom with a 1, 2,3, 4,or 5 then it is graded plastic and recyclable. If a 6 then it is not - its already been recycled and is an amalgam of the other 5 - in other words real rubbish!

I can bring ours to our nearest Council recycling centre in Avoca.
 
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