TURN YOUR CANS INTO CASH
Got a garage full of aluminum cans? Bring them to Redwood Recycling and drive out with cash the same day. Here’s everything you’ll get for them and the surprising journey they take next.
THE MOST RECYCLED CAN ON THE PLANET
Aluminum cans are a recycling success story; they’re the most recycled beverage container in the world, and one of the easiest ways to put a little cash back in your pocket. At Redwood Recycling, we’ve been paying cash for cans in Taylorsville since 1984.
WATCH AND LEARN
THE LIFE CYCLE OF A CAN
Ever wonder what happens to your cans after you drop them off? Watch the journey — from your recycling bin back to a store shelf.
1 - Drop Off
It starts with the empty cans you bring into Redwood.
2- Sorting
Cans are sorted and pressed into bales — each one holds about 65,000 cans.
3 - Shredding
At the mill, cans are shredded and cleaned of paint and coatings.
4 - Melting
The aluminum chips are melted down in a furnace at 1,200°F.
5 - Casting
Melted aluminum is cast into ingots — each made of about 1.5 million cans.
6 - Rolling
Ingots are rolled into sheets thousands of feet long.
7 - Manufacturing
Sheets are pressed and formed into brand-new cans.
8 - Back on the shelf
The can is filled, sold, and ready to start all over again.
DID YOU KNOW?
ALUMINUM CAN RECYCLING FACTS
95%
Recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than making it from raw materials — and creates just 5% of the emissions.
3 HOURS
Recycling a single can saves enough energy to run a television for about three hours.
90,000
Roughly 90,000 aluminum cans are recycled every single minute in the United States.
∞
Aluminum can be recycled over and over, forever, with no loss in quality. The same can come back again and again.
60 DAYS
A used can can be recycled and back on the shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days.
500 YEARS
Tossed in a landfill instead, that same can would sit there for around 500 years. Recycling is the easy choice.
Facts sourced from the Recycled Materials Association (Lifecycle of a Can) and Think Cans / Novelis.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do I need to crush my aluminum cans?
It's not required, but it helps you. We buy cans by the pound, so crushing them just lets you fit more in the same space for transport. Crushed or not, the weight is the same.
Do you take aluminum cans and food cans?
Yes to both. Aluminum beverage cans (soda, beer, energy drinks) and steel food cans (soup, vegetables, pet food) are all accepted. Labels are fine; just empty and rinse them. See current rates on our Prices page.