Nor do all materials have qualities that currently make them a valuable commodity in the recycling marketplace. There may also be a wide variation in demand for recycled materials in different locations or during different time periods. Nearly 100 billion aluminum beverage cans are manufactured each year in the U.S. alone. The recycling infrastructure for aluminum cans is so efficient that it can take as few as 90 days for a can to be collected, melted down, and made into a new can for distribution. Other aluminum products that can be readily recycled include foil wrap, food cans, pie plates, frozen food trays, lawn chair tubing, storm door and window frames, residential siding, and auto parts.
Recycled glass is made of cullet, or crushed glass.
To have value as cullet, glass must be color sorted when it is recycled. Contamination of the cullet is a major concern in glass recycling. Ceramic materials are the largest problem as they are not easily removed during processing. There are many different types of plastics, each unique. The Society of the Plastics Industry has developed a uniform coding system to identify the type of resin in a plastic product.