Aluminum Recycling Center

At CRV, our aluminum recyclers begin this process by shredding the material into chips. These chips then pass through an infrared sorter, efficiently removing plastic, glass, and other contaminants. A magnet is used to pick up any steel scraps present. The cleaned aluminum scraps are melted at a high temperature of about 1,221°F (660.3°C) to form molten aluminum. Then, they are poured into large molds to create ingots.

During remelting, the paint and lacquer on the cans vaporize, producing aluminum oxide known as dross when the molten aluminum reacts with air. A furnace operator uses a machine-powered spatula to skim it off the top to eliminate the dross. This collected dross undergoes a separate recycling process to extract residual aluminum from the aluminum oxide.

Afterward, it flows into a spacious holding furnace, which is then tipped to pour the molten aluminum into ingot molds.

It takes a mere two and a half hours for a 32.8-foot (10-meter)–long ingot, weighing 29.8 tons (27 metric tonnes), to set. Once lifted from its mold, an ingot is transported by truck to a rolling mill, which undergoes heating in a furnace to 995°F (525°C). 

Though slightly below aluminum’s melting point, this temperature is sufficient to relax the bonds between aluminum atoms within the ingot. The ingot passes through a series of rollers, gradually reducing its thickness, similar to rolling fresh pasta. Eventually, the ingot transforms into an approximately 0.1″ (0.25 mm) thick aluminum sheet. This aluminum sheet is then rolled into a reel, ready for reuse.

So, it’s time to do more than just think green. Contact the CRV aluminum recycling center Calabasas to participate in the aluminum recycling revolution.