Aluminum
How to Dispose.
Aluminum is a recyclable item. It is important to note that items such as potato chip bags or candy wrappers that contain a foil lining do not apply, these materials can go to landfill. Recyclable aluminum includes aluminum cans such as canned food, or soda cans. These items can be recycled into blue commingled recycling bins or to your housing's, or facilities' larger recycling waste toters.
There are waste facilities outside of campus that allow "drop-offs" of materials such as aluminum. Many of these facilities specify in recycling or repurposing specific waste items to avoid their disposal into landfills.
Who you can contact.
At UCI: Larger recycling bins are located outside of on-campus buildings and housing faciliites. Most of these items are taken to Waste Management where they are processed through a Material Recovery Facility and repurposed.
Waste Mangement
website: https://www.wm.com/index.jsp
customer service: cssandiego@wm.com
Off-Campus: Facilities such as RePlanet Recycling collect recyclables like aluminum cans:
4541 Campus Dr
Irvine, CA 92612
(800) 266-2453
What happens next.
After being taken to a recycling facility, aluminum is melted down and repurposed to become new recycled material such as new soda or food cans. This process can continue over and over again.
This is why proper disposal is so important because it allows for certain material, that would otherwise be wasted, to become a reusable resource.