Alcoa Recycling

Holiday Greetings 2011

From all of us at Alcoa, happy holidays and warmest wishes for a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Click here to view Alcoa's Holiday Greetings 2011, and please share with friends!

Students build CAN tree; learn value of recycling

Students at Penn Trafford High School (Pittsburgh, PA) in the AP Physics class (class of 2012) took the idea of making a “recycle tree" from the Alcoa web site to school.  Classmates and the teacher were excited to give it a try.  Below is the photo.  It looks pretty good!  Best of all, it was a good “team building” exercise for everyone… it was a group effort!!! We've since learned they are adding lights to the tree.  What a great idea!  To learn how you, your family, classmates or friends can build your very own CAN tree, please check out the link below (includes video and instructions). 

How to build your CAN tree

Five Ways to Green Your Holidays

With the holiday season upon us, many consumers began their preparations on the busiest shopping day of the year – Black Friday on Nov. 25. On Black Friday, consumer electronics were among the most sought-after items, according to a Consumer Electronics Association report.  During the holiday shopping season, Alcoa, the world’s leading aluminum producer, is reminding shoppers to keep these tips in mind when purchasing consumer electronics. Green your gift giving this year.

What to Know Before You Shop

1. First, determine whether or not your electronic device still has any value or if someone else may be able to find value in it. If you can no longer find a use for it, look for an electronics recycler in your area using a resource such as Greener Gadgets, which allows you to view a list of nationwide manufacturer, retailer and certified electronics recycling programs in your area by zip code. Recycling aluminum uses 95 percent less energy and produces 95 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than making metal from new materials!


2. With aluminum, your electronics will always be cool… and stay cool. Because aluminum is more efficient at transferring heat than plastic and has better thermal management overall, devices made with the material can save energy. For example, an aluminum laptop is not only more energy efficient than plastic, but the battery life can be up to 20 percent longer. So, keep this in mind if you have your eye on a new smart phone, laptop or flat panel TV.


3. When shopping for new a new LCD TV,be sure to take a look at those models that use aluminum for back-panels. The light weight and high strength of aluminum make these TVs ideal for mounting directly on a wall. The improved strength, slimmer design and better cooling performance make these models the green choice.


4. Lighter is better. Electronic products made with aluminum parts, are not only infinitely recyclable, but these products will be much lighter in weight, allowing you to easily transport and move your device. Aluminum also allows for that hip metallic finish – the look and feel that consumers love.


5. Tablets and Aluminum. Not surprisingly, tablets are a wildly popular item on wish lists this year and tablets made with aluminum have certainly become a rising trend as well. Aluminum is the material of choice for many of these devices because it enables a slimmer, sleeker design, lighter overall weight, and comes with the added bonus of its recyclability. Be sure not to miss these!

For more tips on recycling and how to turn your holiday shopping green, visit www.alcoa.com/recycling.

Steelers fans hand off tons of material to support “Let’s Tackle Recycling” effort outside Heinz Field in past year

 

PRC’s recycling campaign marks one-year anniversary; expands to Eastern PA

Steelers fans will continue to recycle aluminum cans, glass containers, plastic bottles and cups at the three remaining 2011 home games – Dec. 4 vs. Bengals, Dec. 8 vs. Browns and Dec. 24 vs. Rams – as part of PRC’s successful “Let’s Tackle Recycling” effort.

Since the launch of the campaign last December, tailgaters outside Heinz Field have recycled an average of 1 ½ TONS of material per game.

“We’re excited to celebrate the first anniversary of this extremely successful program and proud to announce that we’ve collected more than 16 TONS of recyclables since launching the program in December 2010,” said Dave Mazza, Regional Director of the Pennsylvania Resources Council.  “At the November 6 Ravens game alone, fans kept 4,880 pounds of recyclables out of local landfills by placing bottles, cans and plastic in blue recycling bags.”

The breakdown for the 32,320 pounds collected outside Heinz Field during the past eight regular season home games, Jan. 2011 playoff game and Jan. 2011 championship game:
•    8,080 pounds of aluminum cans
•    19,392 pounds of glass bottles
•    1,617 pounds of plastic cups and bottles
•    3,232 pounds of cardboard packaging

“Since the introduction of tailgate recycling late last season, we’ve been impressed by the positive response of tailgaters in Heinz Field lots,” said Mazza.  “Our goal has been to make recycling as easy and convenient as possible, and this program definitely proves that fans are more than willing to support recycling efforts when given instruction and the proper tools…large blue plastic bags in this instance.” 

The “Let’s Tackle Recycling” campaign – funded by the Alcoa Foundation – includes Alco Parking lot attendants distributing blue plastic recycling bags to those entering designated Heinz Field parking lots at every 2011 regular season Steelers home game.

“The tremendous success of this program in Pittsburgh has led PRC to expand tailgate recycling to the eastern end of the state,” said Mazza.  “In October PRC launched ‘Recycle A Lot’ tailgate recycling in Lincoln Financial Field parking lots at Philadelphia Eagles home games.”  

According to Beth Schmitt, Alcoa’s Director of Recycling, “Recycling saves energy, conserves resources and reduces the need for new landfills.  Aluminum is infinitely recyclable.  It takes 95% less energy to make a can from recycled aluminum than from raw materials, and the energy saved from recycling just one pound of aluminum could power an average home for four days.”

“Let’s Tackle Recycling” is coordinated by PRC and made possible through generous funding from the Alcoa Foundation in partnership with Alco Parking, City of Pittsburgh Environmental Services, Greenstar Recycling, Heinz Field and the Sports & Exhibition Authority.  For more information, visit www.prc.org or call 412-488-7490.