Alcoa Recycling

Today's Aluminum Pricing Information

Based on today’s London Metal Exchange market, the retail price for used beverage cans is $.55-.60 per pound.  The day’s wholesale price for mills is ranging from $.85-.89 per pound.  The retail price refers to the amount charged to store customers, such as at a scrap metal buy-back center.  The wholesale price describes the amount paid by large sheet mills buying large quantities of used beverage cans. 

Disclaimer

• Wholesale Prices shown are indicative prices only, and are not an offer to buy from Alcoa or its representatives.
• Prices are for used aluminum beverage cans in bales or briquettes in truckload lots delivered to aluminum sheet mills in the USA.
• Quality specifications are subject to the unique requirements of each mill.
• Retail Prices are indicative prices only, and are not an offer to buy from Alcoa or its representatives.
• Prices are for loose or flattened used aluminum beverages cans delivered to local scrap buyers.
• Quality and prices will vary by region and sellers are advised to consult with local scrap buyers for specific market conditions.

Southeast Recycling Summit in November

The Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC) will hold its first ever recycling summit in Point Clear, Alabama from November 12-14, 2008.  This summit will be an opportunity for southeast recyclers, environmental industry executives, and policy makers to interact and discuss the latest trends in recycling while developing a plan to work together for advancing recycling in the southeast. 

Visit SERDC's Recycling Summit website for more information on how you can attend, exhibit, or sponsor this event. 

Originally posted for August 27.

Supporting Recycling in Georgia Through License Tags

Georgia residents will soon have the change to promote their state pride and environmentalism every time they get behind the wheel.  In an effort to increase recycling awareness in the state,  the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) are encouraging residents to order the new "Recycle 4 Georgia" license tag.

The "Recycle 4 Georgia" design was created as part of the state's Recycling on the Go campaign which encourages residents to remember to recycle when away from the home.  It is the first step of an unprecedented state-wide education campaign that involves integrated marketing, regional recycling collection hubs and the use of consistent state-wide date collection and measurement.  The Curbside Value Partnership (CVP), a national invitation-only program designed to help communities grow their recycling programs through education, is working with the state of Georgia as it undergoes this effort.

The cost for the new tag is $25, $10 of which will go to the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation to support recycling and environmental education in the state, making it a double-win!

To order a 'Recycle 4 Georgia' license tag, go to Keep Georgia Beautiful's website. 

Originally posted for August 26. 

RecycleMania at Colleges and Universities

RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to campus communities. Over a 10-week period starting in January 2009, schools will report recycling and trash data which are then ranked according to who collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or have the highest recycling rate. With each week’s reports and rankings, participating schools watch how their results fluctuate against other schools and use this to rally their campus communities to reduce and recycle more.

 
Visit RecycleMania’s website for more information.

Originally posted for August 25.

Meet the Recycle Sleuth

The name is the Recycle Sleuth-  your source for recycling questions that require some inside detective work.  I am relentless in dissolving urban recycling myths and silencing the critics that don't approve of recycling.  No mound of cans is too high for my undercover work! 

Why Isn't Recycling Free?

The operation of picking up recyclables from either your curb or a recycling center requires manual labor, transportation, collection, and processing of the recyclable items.  All of these components require some financial backing to allow them to function.  For example, the truck that comes to pick up recyclables from your curb or at the recycling center runs on gasoline or diesel. As we all know, gasoline and diesel aren't free.  Also, there are drivers of these trucks that are paid to pick up these recyclables.  This is just one facet of recycling, but it gives you an idea of how many components are involved in the recycling process.  Recycling at your city or county recycling centers is covered through your city or county taxes.  This service is not free, just as trash service isn't free.  People do not realize that there is a cost associated with garbage as well as with recycling. 

It is true that money is given in exchange for many of the recyclables that you take to the recycling center or leave at your curb.  You may wonder why you have to pay for recycling if your local government is getting paid for your recyclables.  The money received from your recyclables is most often used to supplement the operating costs of the recycling program.  In addition, there is extra work involved in finding appropriate markets for all of the recyclables.  Markets for recyclables can fluctuate, making it difficult to find a home for a mass quantity of recyclable items.   Just because an item can be recycled doesn't mean the market is available for that particular item.  This is where you and I step in with our help.  Markets for recyclable items will stabilize if we buy and encourage the use of recycled products.  Recycling doesn't stop when you drop off your recyclables.  We must be aware of what kind of products we are buying for the office and the home.

Today's Aluminum Pricing Information

Based on today’s London Metal Exchange market, the retail price for used beverage cans is $.60-.65 per pound.  The day’s wholesale price for mills is ranging from $.90-.94 per pound.  The retail price refers to the amount charged to store customers, such as at a scrap metal buy-back center.  The wholesale price describes the amount paid by large sheet mills buying large quantities of used beverage cans. 

Disclaimer

• Wholesale Prices shown are indicative prices only, and are not an offer to buy from Alcoa or its representatives.
• Prices are for used aluminum beverage cans in bales or briquettes in truckload lots delivered to aluminum sheet mills in the USA.
• Quality specifications are subject to the unique requirements of each mill.
• Retail Prices are indicative prices only, and are not an offer to buy from Alcoa or its representatives.
• Prices are for loose or flattened used aluminum beverages cans delivered to local scrap buyers.
• Quality and prices will vary by region and sellers are advised to consult with local scrap buyers for specific market conditions.

National Recycling Coalition Annual Conference

The National Recycling Coalition's 27^th Annual Congress & Expo will take place at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA, September 21-24, 2008. The Congress & Exposition is considered to be the premier national education and networking event for recycling professionals. 

Dozens of exhibitors will have informative booths to educate attendees about the latest trends in the recycling movement.  Lectures and workshops will also be running throughout the course of the conference to allow further educational opportunities.  Some key topics for the conference will include climate change policies as they relate to recycling, best management practices for collection systems, developing methods to better finance recycling, creating new technology to keep pace with the changes in recycling, and finding ways to better educate the public about recycling

Learn more about the conference through NRC's website. 

Coca-Cola Named Official Recycler for Democratic National Convention

Coca-Cola was named the official recycler for the 2008 Democratic National Convention (DNC) that will be held at the end of August in Denver, Colorado.  The company's subsidiary, Coca-Cola Recycling, will be responsible for the recovery and recycling of all paper products, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans generated throughout the four day Convention.  In addition to recycling collection, Coca-Cola plans on providing recycling bins for material recovery as well as biodegradable bag liners. Coca-Cola will use energy-efficient coolers and vending machines to supply beverages to Convention attendees and will deliver the beverages on hybrid electric delivery trucks. 

Read more about Coca-Cola's involvement at DNC.

Alcoa Contributes to Greening of Olympic Games

Alcoa is doing its part to help "green" this year's Olympics in Beijing by lessening the event's overall environmental impact. To minimize the impact, Alcoa provided its lightweight aluminum for use in the transportation systems that are transporting athletes and visitors alike around to the various Olympic venues.  Alcoa's lightweight aluminum wheels that are being used on over 50 buses for the Games have proved to be both cost effective and fuel efficient- saving some money and the Earth!  In  addition, environmentally-friendly, aluminum-intensive buses jointly  designed and built by Alcoa and Yutong Bus Company of China, the country’s  largest bus manufacturer, will be road tested during the Olympics. The new aluminum-intensive bus body is nearly 50% lighter than a traditional bus body.  Lighter weight material translates into less fuel usage to run vehicles.

Learn more about Alcoa's contributions to the Olympics through this news release. 

Curbside Recycling Program with Incentives Pitched to Knoxville, TN

City of Knoxville officials are considering a new residential curbside recycling program that will offer incentives to households based on the weight of the recyclables they generate.  This incentivized recycling scheme is the brainchild of a Philadelphia-based company called RecycleBank, which sensed that people wanted to recycle but just needed a gentle push in the right direction- this push comes in the form of redeemable coupons to area merchants. 

Last week in Knoxville, RecycleBank representatives and their partners for this project- Waste Connections, Advanced Polymer Recycling, and Alcoa- pitched this recycling model to more than 20 municipalities and various other community organizations. Along with environmental benefits, the gathering underscored the potential financial savings that the City could experience due to factors such as reduction in landfill fees.

City officials are intrigued by this program but are planning to analyze the cost of the program, potential cost savings, and possible lost revenue from material taken to area drop-off centers. 

Check out the News Sentinel’s full length article on this story. 

Originally posted for August 15, 2008.