At maybe 35 cents per lb you would need about 30 lbs = about 900 cans to make 10.00. You won't get rich from cans. You will do better with a lot scrap aluminum sheet which is more concentrated, but lower price per pound. Much better with copper.
It's 5 cents per can, that's 20 cans to a dollar, 200 cans for 10 bucks. The amount of effort isn't really worth the pay, but it's up to you.
With a market rate of $0.55 per pound, you'd need around 182 pounds of aluminum cans to earn $100. This equates to about 6,000 cans.
Aluminum beverage cans are roughly 32 cans per pound. So at 50 cents a pound, you would need around 1,250 to 1,300 cans to make 20 bucks.
How Much is a Garbage Bag Full of Cans Worth? A large, industrial-sized garbage bag can fit between 300 to 400 aluminum cans. If redeemed for 5 cents per can, you'd earn around $15 to $20 per bag.
Older aluminum cans are generally heavier than newer ones, so older cans are more valuable. Scrap yards may not pay as much per can as bottle bill collection centers, so don't expect 5 cents a can. However, it can still be worth the time to collect and recycle cans, especially if you have access to a lot of them.
It takes about 30 recycled cans to make one dollar. However, this number can vary depending on the type and quality of the recycling center. So if you're looking to recycle your cans for some quick cash, it's best to check with your local center for an estimate.
Sort and Clean Your Cans
Before you can start cashing in on your recycled cans, sorting and cleaning them is important. Sorting the different types of metals helps ensure that you get the most money for your scrap metal when you take it to a recycling facility.
Recycling aluminum cans can earn you between . 25 to . 50 cents a pound which means if you have a 100 pounds you could earn around $50. I would collect cans from the trash and even walk side ditches to pick them up because most people wouldn't take the time so recycle them.
Five cents today is worth only a third as much as it was in 1982. To earn just $5, barely enough to afford a meal, you have to collect 100 containers. That's 100 instances of finding and collecting, not to mention carrying everything you've gathered to a redemption center.
Currently, the rate of DRS stands at $0.05 per package. Mathematically, consumers need to deposit 20,000 bottles or cans for getting $1000.
If you make $1 per lb, you need 2200 cans to make $100. From a scrapyard, you likely need double that, with 4400 cans.
The Value of Recycled Cans in California
In California, the current redemption rate for aluminum cans is $0.05 per can. This means that for every aluminum can that is returned for recycling, you can receive $0.05.
If your state's bottle deposit pays 10 cents per bottle, you'd need to collect 10,000 bottles to make $1,000. That's a lot of bottles, as you can see.
Shyla's research shows that 8 empty cans make 1/4 pound of aluminum. We need to find how many can make 5 pounds of aluminum. Let x be the number of cans to make 5 pounds of aluminum. Hence, 160 cans make a 5 pounds of aluminum.
Ten states (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont) have a beverage container redemption law.
The weight of a can fluctuates with various brand designs, but they tend to be around a half-ounce per can. At an average of 56 cents per pound, that makes a single can worth about 1.8 cents. At that rate, you could make about $20 for about 1,000 cans (or 84 12-packs of 12-ounce cans).
It depends where you live, which recycler, scrap yard, you are dealing with and their profit requirement, and market values. So at roughly 1/2 oz per can, that is at least 32 per pound. At maybe 35 cents per lb you would need about 30 lbs = about 900 cans to make 10.00.
The modern 12 fluid ounce aluminum can, it takes 31.8 cans to equal one pound. Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a T.V. for 3 hours. 97% of all beverage cans are aluminum.
In fact, by recycling all the aluminum beverage cans that currently end up in U.S. landfills each year, we could save around $1.2 billion for the economy and enough energy to power more than 2 million homes for a full year.
A flattened aluminum can, for example, would be harder for a machine to recognize because of its smaller total surface area. The crushed can could then end up mixed in with other recycling materials, contaminating them in the process.
Aluminum cans: flattened 1yd3 weighs 340 lbs., uncompacted 1 full grocery bag weighs 1.5 lbs., uncompacted 1 case of 24 cans weighs 0.75 lbs., 32 cans weigh 1 lb. weigh 14 lbs., manually broken bottles in a 55-gallon drum weigh 300 lbs.
Whole aluminum cans are both difficult to store and deliver. Tabs are smaller, easier to store and are easier to handle in large volumes. Collecting pop tabs is a great way to teach others about philanthropy and the importance of recycling while raising money to help children and their families at the same time.