Who invented aluminum recycling

Techniques to produce aluminum in ways modestly cost-effective emerged in During ancient times, aluminum oxide clays were used in hide tanning, first aid, fabric dying and fireproofing. The large amount of electricity required to power the electrolytic process limited the production of aluminum. Hall received U. In the early s, U. Power transmission lines and elevated train electrical wiring were among the first to benefit from the electrical advantages of aluminum.

Aluminum found early industrial uses in engines, such as the one built in by the Wright brothers to power their first biplane. Aluminum foil entered the market in Alloy development, begun in , improved physical properties and opened new industrial fields. The Great Depression resulted in Works Progress Administration WPA projects that expanded hydroelectric generation capacity, which in turn increased production capacity of primary aluminum.

During this time, the Aluminum Association was formed. This allowed discarded materials to be sorted and separated into various categories, so recyclable materials such as metals, paper, fabrics and more could be recovered and reused.

This quickly led to the first aluminium can recycling plants, the first of which operated out of Chicago, Illinois in The first and second World Wars forced an innovative approach to resource management.

With materials running low, both the US and Great Britain canvassed the public for help. For example, people were instructed to take waste cooking fats to local meat dealers, so they could be recycled into fuel for explosives.

The celebratory — now foreboding — article helped to feed a less responsible way of thinking when it came to waste, leading to wide scale littering and a lack of guilt or forethought about the environment. The Container Corporation of America held a competition to find a new symbol for recycled paper. On the 6th June, , Stanley Race dropped an empty jar into the very first glass recycling bank in the country.

This first deposit kicked off the nationwide appearance of bottle banks, where the public can take empty bottles and jars to be recycled. Glass is an infinitely recyclable material, and the introduction of bottle banks is a pivotal moment which made glass recycling easy for everyone. In the city of Kitchener, Ontario, the blue box recycling system was introduced as a way of efficiently sorting and collecting household waste. The blue box system made it simple for the public to recycle plastic, paper, glass, aluminium, steel and other materials.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought many things into sharp focus for Public Works Directors, and other leaders who work to keep our cities clean and functional. As the few remaining recycling centers slowly start to open, residents heave a sigh of relief. But will it last? The recycling industry has been in crisis for some time. Our hope is that you not only use this article as a historical resource, but that you build upon its ideas to help reshape the future of the recycling industry.

Here is the mind-boggling history of city recycling, and where it could go in an ever-changing future. When did recycling start? The earliest account is in BC, when the first municipal dump program was formed in the Western World.

Trash had to be disposed of at least a mile from the city. The evolution of recycling dates back to , when patriots pulled down a statue of King George III, melted it down and used it to create 42, bullets during The American War of Independence.

Paper was also recycled as a vital commodity, due to lack of raw materials. A real moment in the history of recycling came in , when aluminum can recycling factories opened in Chicago, Illinois — the first of their kind in America. Due to large-scale material shortages the government created a Waste Reclamation Service. The Great Depression was an infamous time of shortages, so residents were encouraged to recycle or reuse everything from scrap metal, to cloth, paper, sacks and more.

Like in WW1, recycling became critical to the war effort during WW2. Materials were commonly recycled, reused and rationed — everything from rubber, to nylon and scrap. Who invented recycling? So it seemed to be the logical solution. As soon as we got it going, we began to think about recycling, reclaiming [the can]. So we started giving one penny a can in our market. Then, we had cans just coming in.

Besides creating the "Cash for Cans" program, Coors also required that all of their distributors have a place where customers could bring cans back. Aluminum was an improvement from steel-lined tin cans, as there was less alteration in taste as well as no leakage during transport. Aluminum cans also were lighter and therefore less expensive to transport than their tin equivalents. The beverage industry never adopted the industry-wide takeback program that Coors had envisioned.

Still, in the present day, bottle deposit laws have put a value on cans and other beverage containers. While not everyone in the recycling and private sector is a fan of deposit bills, they have proven an effective lever to get cans back.