3 Ways to Properly Dispose of Aluminum Foil: Rolls, Packaging, and Trays

When recycling and properly disposing waste materials, aluminum is often thrown away. Most people don’t know that aluminum foils and trays are 100% recyclable; this even includes aluminum soda cans one just carelessly throws away.

So, why should one know how to dispose of aluminum foil? The reason is that people usually dispose of aluminum trays that are still contaminated with food and other items which are not acceptable for recycling. When aluminum objects end up in landfills, this easily reusable material takes around 400 years to break down.

Aluminum foil is recyclable. To recycle it, clean it, and crumble it into a ball. You can then put the aluminum ball into your recycle bin. This works for aluminum trays and packaging too. If the foil is attached to other materials (like plastic or paper), it needs to be separated from the foil.

This is why learning how to dispose of aluminum foil responsibly and adequately is crucial. We can help avoid Earth’s contamination and contribute towards a greener and better tomorrow. In this article, we will discuss how to dispose of aluminum foil and how you can recycle them properly.

Why Is Properly Disposing Of Aluminum Necessary?

Most people neglect that aluminum objects, such as furniture frames, cans, trays, etc., are elementary to recycle and reuse. Their credibility for being recycled is the highest, considering you can quickly melt them back and turn them is brand-new products.

The resources and energy required to recycle and reuse aluminum are lesser than creating aluminum pieces from scratch. Thus, recycling aluminum is crucial for sustainable energy and resources.

Challenges With Recycling Aluminum Foil

While the aluminum is easy to recycle motto holds for most cases, aluminum foil is difficult to tackle. The biggest challenge that comes with recycling aluminum foil is the contamination of food waste with it.

The grease and oils from the food latch onto the aluminum foil firmly, which can end up damaging the equipment used for recycling. This ends up making a low-grade product, defeating the reusability purpose. Thus, food-affected aluminum foils have to be thrown away as waste.

How Is Aluminum Foil Made?

Before we move on to the recycling and reusing aluminum foil, you need to be aware of its composition. Aluminum comprises sheets of aluminum that have been rolled incredibly thin and delicately. Then that light and delicate aluminum foil are wrapped around a cardboard tube, a typical distribution method for aluminum foil.

This process produces over 7 billion foiled aluminum annually, amounting to 220 containers every second. The first trace of aluminum foil used can be found in candy wrappers from 1913.

Aluminum foil is an excellent heat conductor, which is why it’s used predominantly in baking. If you happen to cover the dish with aluminum foil and leave it in the oven for baking, on taking the dish out, you will notice that the foil cools down much faster than any other utensil, which makes it easy to check up on the progress of your food.

While aluminum foil has gained its reputation through its uses in the kitchen, it is also vastly used in electronics, purposes of insulation, and even art and other decorative processes. The benefits of recycling aluminum foil are countless, but their proper disposal is equally important.

How Do I Recycle Aluminum Foils and Trays?

You’ll have to clean the aluminum in areas that accept aluminum foil as recyclable material. Then crumble the aluminum foil before placing them directly inside the recycle container. This way, the recyclable materials are shipped to material recovery centers where the aluminum foil is picked out and sorted.

The aluminum foil is then sent to recyclers, which make new cans and trays. This recycling stream is known to be quick and easy as the process could take less than a month, and the recycled aluminum will be morphed into brand-new metal cans and trays.

To clean your aluminum foil properly, you must remove any food stuck. If you rinse your aluminum foil with hot water, you may find that foil will be discolored, but that’s completely fine. However, if your foil is coated with grease or has food that can’t be removed, you’ll have to throw it in the trash.

When placing the aluminum foil within the recycling bins, it is recommended that you follow a specific procedure. This includes crumpling up the pieces of aluminum sheets into a ball-like shape so that they don’t get stuck with any machinery. In this case, please do not make up tiny balls to throw away; instead, save up[ on the aluminum and crumple it all together to form a large sphere of aluminum measuring up to at least 2 inches in diameter.

Reusing Aluminum Foil

If you can’t find the option to recycle and dispose of your aluminum foil, the next best choice is to reuse them. Most of these objects are easily reusable. Aluminum foil is safe for dishwashers, so you can easily reuse it repeatedly without damaging the foil itself.

You can even get creative and use some of these ideas to reuse the aluminum properly and find new uses around the house. This includes saving on costs for new items and building a sustainable and healthy environment.

Getting Rid Of Grease and Oils Through Aluminum Foils

You can cut the costs of buying new steel wool pads and instead use your aluminum foil. To do so, scrunch the old aluminum foil into the best shape for you. Then continue to scrub thoroughly against surfaces that are layered with grease.

This works perfectly for greased pots and pans, grease on the stove, or even the ones on your grill. The aluminum will assist tremendously in getting rid of the grease in no time.

Getting Rid Of Static Cling Through Aluminum Foil

Sometimes the clothes straight out of the dryer have an eerie and frustrating static cling latched onto them. This is a dreadful situation.

However, you can easily reuse your aluminum waste to get rid of this feeling. Add a small piece of aluminum foil alongside your clothes in the drier. The aluminum foil will attract all charges and eliminate the static cling effectively.

Protect Your Garden With The Help Of Aluminum Foil

Pests and Insects are a consistent problem for every garden owner, and keeping them away is an additional burden that requires a lot of money. One quick and almost cost-free way to keep them away is using aluminum foils around the base of the plant you’re aiming to protect.

You can even hang pieces of aluminum foil around your garden as a decorative piece. This reflective foreign material can scare off insects and animals trying to taste the fresh produce.

Protecting Your Silverware With Aluminum Foil

Foil can easily help to protect your silverware. The methods are simple. All you need to do is lay all your silver on pieces of aluminum foil, which helps to hinder the deterioration that normally occurs in silverware.

You can also refurbish your silverware that has been tarnished. All you need is a solution of baking soda and water that you can dip into with aluminum foil and thoroughly clean away all the build-up on the silverware.

Aluminum Foil for Camping Trips

Aluminum foil is a great tool to have during camping trips. It can be used for waterproofing and protecting items from rain. You can quickly wrap up your match sticks with aluminum to prevent them from getting wet when camping in the woods.

You can use it to cover up food and heated objects to prevent the food from losing its heat and so on. Similarly, it works great for cooking when you’re out in the woods and don’t have a stove; use aluminum foil as your pan.

Buying Recycled Aluminum Foil

To help reduce the world’s carbon footprint, you can make sustainable choices on your behalf. This means exclusively shopping for retailers that sell 100 percent recycled aluminum foils. Some companies include You Care, Kirkland, and Reynolds.

By opting for recycled aluminum foils for your home and your businesses, you are saving the world from going into an era of pollution and littering. You can quickly decrease the carbon footprint by making sustainable choices.

Alternatives to Aluminum Foil

One way to decrease the amount of aluminum foil waste we accumulate is by choosing and opting for alternative methods that are more sustainable in the long run. We can begin by finding alternative ways to cover dishes than aluminum foils.

There are glass dishes with their covers, which can work perfectly in retaining heat. These Pyrex dishes are excellent for making pans of brownies and lasagna without using aluminum foil excessively.

You can also opt for Tupperware containers and other plastic containers and take them to delivery places instead of their foil-based packaging, which becomes difficult to reuse. These containers are heatproof and can help to contain foods in large amounts without contributing to the wastage of aluminum foils.

Using cling film is much worse than opting for aluminum foil. If you thoroughly cleanse and rinse the aluminum foil, you can quickly help yourself by applying all the methods of reusability of aluminum foil that we discussed earlier.

You can also opt for cardboard boxes to use for insulation. They keep the heat in and are easily degradable and recyclable without any issues. Using cardboard boxes will help to retain heat and also provide you with a sustainable choice. You usually see such boxes in takeout pizzas and so on.

Quick Review On How To Dispose Of Aluminum Foil

We have covered the most critical steps to dispose of aluminum foil successfully. Here is a quick overview so you can effectively recycle and reuse your aluminum waste at home:

•  Rinse off and thoroughly cleanse the residual food in your aluminum container. This includes trays and standard aluminum packing for other produce. Then proceed to crumple into spheres of around 2 inches in diameter to ensure they don’t interfere with the recycling equipment.
•  In case your aluminum foil is drenched in meat juices, frosting, butter stains, and grease, the aluminum foil cannot be used and recycled. This is because these materials strictly adhere to the aluminum foil, making it difficult to remove and recycle. It’s best to throw them away as garbage only.
• Some foods have foil food seals, including tubs of margarine, yogurt, and even butter. Putting them in the trash instead of the recycling bin is best. This is because these metals are coated with plastic, which makes the bond hard to separate and recycle effectively.

Conclusion

Recycling aluminum foil is crucial for sustainable energy and resources. Not only is it 100% recyclable, but it also takes up to 400 years to break down in a landfill. To recycle aluminum foil, it must be clean, crumpled into a ball, and placed in a recycling bin.

However, one of the biggest challenges with recycling aluminum foil is the contamination of food waste with it. To avoid this, aluminum foils contaminated with food should be thrown away as waste. Properly disposing of aluminum foil and recycling it is essential for a greener and better tomorrow.