Sand, limestone and soda ash are used in the production of gas. Refillable glass bottles are used approximately 15 times before being melted down to make new bottles. Glass can be recycled indefinitely. Nature can reduce a tin can to dust in 100 years, and an aluminum can in 500 years, but a glass bottle takes one million ears. Aluminum is the most expensive recyclable item in the household waste stream.
Recycled aluminum is an indispensable supply source for aluminum producers and fabricators.
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to light one 100 watt bulb for 20 hours or run a TV for 2 hours. Cans Canadians discard 1,500 tonnes of steel everyday in food and drink cans. One tonne of recycled steel saves thhe energy equivalent of 3.6 barrels of oil and 1.49 tonnes of iron ore over the production of new steel. The tin content in 'tin' cans is equivalent to about 2.26 kilograms per tonne of cans. Plastics Plastics can take between 100 and 400 years to break down in a landfill.