Aluminium Can management

Abstract

Many Pacific Island Countries collect aluminium cans for recycling. Some of these countries include: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. The operations through most of the countries are conducted by private businesses, indicating that recycling of aluminium cans is profitable, making it a relatively easy recyclable commodity. Aluminium is used in many every day products including beverage cans, window frames, cars, cooking utensils and roofing materials. Aluminium recycling is both economically and environmentally effective, as it requires a lot less energy to recycle than it does to mine, extract and smelt aluminium ore. Aluminium exposed to fires at dumps can release poisonous gases and cans dumped in the environment can harbour mosquito breeding. Refer section - Health and Environmental Impacts.