How Much Are Aluminum Cans Worth

This article is on how much are aluminum cans worth. Before 2014, I had a knack for taking any drink in a can, name it. I’ll drink almost anything, from Coca-Cola (sweet) to Schweppes (bitter for me, plus, not-my-favourite any day) just because it was in a can. Then one random day, grandma Billy suddenly asked, “who knows how much aluminium cans are worth?” My response was, “…no damn worth Grandy.”

I was wrong! My grandpa Billy was not one to ask questions without a worthy discovery lurking in his wise answers. He showed me just how much I could have made from all the canned drinks I had consumed as far back as we all could remember. Thus, if you’re asking the same question Grandy asked me, you’re in the right place for a revealing answer.

I will not only show you how much are aluminum cans worth but also show you how you can make money from recycling aluminum cans. All you require is, simply read through meticulously.

How many aluminum cans do you need to make $100?

At specified CRV value of $0.05/can, you’d need $100/$0.05=2000 cans to get $100. If you had the above by-weight price of $1.60 per pound, you’d need 62.5 pounds of cans to get you $100. At 31 cans per pound, you’d need 1938 cans.

How much money do you get for a pound of aluminum cans?

Globally, at Aluminum recycling centers and scrap yards, can rate are often within the same range.

Prices go up and down, but at any given time, they are typically comparable across the globe. With about half an ounce of aluminum per can or 32 cans per pound, each can is worth about 1.7 cents.

Will scrap aluminum prices go up in 2023?

There is a probability that the prices of cans may crash

As stated by market sources, the outlook for US aluminium scrap prices in 2020 appears gloomy on the surface while the market in the United States remains plagued by oversupply.

In a Wednesday afternoon e-mail to Action 2 News, Festival Foods Buyer Merchandiser; Travis Tiedt writes, “When the pandemic hit, the volume of aluminum spiked and the three major soft drink companies used a large amount of their 2020 forecast prior to the month of May. All three companies have been experiencing aluminum shortages since early summer, which they expect to last into 2021.”

Tiedt goes on to say the grocery store chain has reduced the amount of advertising for cans during the shortage. “We do still receive occasional shipments of some of the more popular flavors in cans, however, those are sporadic shipments, so shoppers may not always find their favorite flavors in can form.”

Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry has also felt the direct impact of the aluminum shortage.

Orders for those cans that typically take two days to fulfill now take up to five months.

What does this all mean for consumers? Shivaram says shoppers looking for items in aluminum cans can expect price increases next time they head to the store.

“The consumer will see an increase in the price of a soda can and the price of a can of beer because producers will try to pass that cost increase down to the consumer,” said Shivaram. “The worst case, unfortunately, is that it could be that consumers couldn’t get what they want. Certain products are sold only in cans.”

Shivaram hopes the shortage can lead to greater investment in aluminum production in the United States.

Should I crush cans for recycling?

According to Matt Meenan, the senior director of public affairs at the Aluminum Association, crushed cans are more difficult to sort out and can contaminate other recyclable products when added to the recycling stream.

Why is Aluminum So Cheap?

Because of the lightweight and smaller price check, aluminum does not travel as fast as the other more costly metals. In reality, it is the least expensive metal per pound when compared to copper, lead, nickel, tin, and zinc. This is usually because it is the most common too.

Since you can use aluminum in all your cans, you can find it swiftly and pronto just about everywhere. But you need to have a big sum in order to get a ton of cash for the aluminum can. In addition, feel free to smash the cans ahead of time when trading, to save space.

How much are Aluminum cans Worth; Contemporary Aluminum Can Worth

Presently, aluminium is about 81 cents per pound. Relying on the results of a research carried out in 2020, recycling centres oftentimes pay about 25% to 35% on the low end, and 50% at best.

This entails that the pricing of aluminium is about 81 cents. Thus, your aluminium cans worth should be between 25% to 50% at this rate. Let’s do the mathematics;

• At 25% of Spot Price;
  • 81 x 0.25 = 20.25. Thus, a pound of aluminium cans should be worth about 20 cents.

• At 50% of Spot Price
  • 81 x 0.50 = 40.5. Therefore, a pound of aluminium cans should be worth about 40 to 41 cents.

Aluminum Can Price Formula

Forthwith, there’s a statistical way to approximately calculate how much you can get for your cans. With an average can weigh about 14-15 grams or.03 pounds, the average aluminum can weigh about 2.4 cents at 81 cents per pound.

Formula for price of aluminum cans:

(# of cans) x .03 x (price in chart above, 81 cents would be .81)

Not exactly the Oscar revenue. However, don’t forget this is more of a ‘passive’ income idea that gradually but consistently trickles money into your pocket.

Solely, 12-ounce aluminium can weighs around half an ounce. This means that if you have a pack of 12 cans, it will weigh about 6 ounces of aluminum. It’s just over 4/10 of a pound, or in other words, you’re going to get just over $0.29 for the 81 cents/pound 12 pack.

With this knowledge, you will really need to start collecting hundreds, if not thousands of cans to get something really worthwhile (100 cans are going to get you about $2.43 at 81 cents per pound).

Nevertheless, you will not get paid the actual aluminium selling rate. So these are just theoretical price tags. Here are some actual prices in the real market though;

Aluminum Can Recycling Prices

As researched by the Wealth Artisan, Aluminum is trading for about 81 cents per pound as at 2020. The prices that will be shown below are just examples of what to anticipate as the market often varries.

The prices below are estimates that should enable you have a good knowledge of price ranges in the aluminium market. At maximum, you should anticipate to get about 50% of the current market price.

Price in Arizona

Over in Phoenix, E-Z Money Recycling is paying 75 cents per pound for aluminium cans with CRV and 20 cents per pound without the CRV. While Tempe, Arizona based I-Buy-Scrap is currently paying 60 cents per pound.

Prices in California

More specially, California has the California Redemption Value of 5 cents per can under 24 fluid ounces. See the “Bottle Deposits” section below for more states with a “bottle bill.”

Price in Ohio

Ohio Computer Recycling quotes a price of 40 cents per pound. According to the Wealth Artisan, Berea Metals in Brook Park, Ohio quotes 35 cents per pound, while CycleMET over in Columbus, Ohio quotes 38 cents per pound and 40 cents per pound if you have over 100 pounds.

Price in Texas

CMC Recycling in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas is currently paying 40 cents per pound for aluminium cans. That’s approximately half the contemporary going rate.

In Wisconsin

In ARR in Waukesha, Wisconsin, they quote 40 cents per pound. Also,  Stateline Recycling in Janesville, Wisconsin gives 25 cents per pound and 30 cents per pound as their pricing, if you have over 100 pounds.

Where can I Recycle Aluminum Cans for Money?

If you’ve gone through the trouble of collecting your cans, then chances are you want to turn those cans into some “gold.” The most common places to get returns on aluminium cans are:

• Scrap Yards & Recycling Centers
• Bottle Deposits
• eBay / Etsy

What are Scrap Yards and Recycling Centers paying for Aluminum Cans?

First of all, it is important for you to understand that the price of aluminium is fluctuating. This means that the price is changing every single day. It’s kind of like the stock market. Other metals differ more greatly, such as copper, nickel and tin. There are three of the most precious, all-day, non-ferrous metals.

On top of the fluctuating costs, you need to remember that when you take the aluminum in, you won’t get the same price as the one shown in the chart above. The recycling center will have a purchase and a selling price listed.

This ensures that the recycling center will pay you less than the current value of aluminum and will charge you more for aluminum than it is worth. This is basically because the scrap yard wants to make money on the sale, and this is not possible if it provides the same price as the aluminum trading.

How do you get the highest price for recycled aluminium cans at recycling centres?

Here are the two most important things to know from my study on this:

1. Ask around, prices vary a lot!

You may be shocked about how pricing differs even in the same state. Some recycling facilities have charged as much as 15 cents a pound more. Other places quote a flat rate that may be well higher than the bulk rate of some recycling centers!

2. It’s 100 pounds. 100 is seemingly the static number of the aluminum can!

If you’re going for a lot of money, then 100 pounds seems to be the mystery number. The wealth Artisan reports that must buyers who had a bulk price tier offered their best price for 100 pounds or more.

However, be sure that the bulk price is worth the effort. Some places quote a flat rate that was as good or better than the bulk rate of other places!

3. Bottle Deposits: they pay the most!

If you have an aluminum can made from soda or beer, you might wonder exactly what you’re supposed to do with it. Today, if you’re in one of the states with a bottle deposit, you can get a nice amount of money for your can (compared to the melt value).

For many of these states, you get five cents to get the can back. These countries also have some of the highest recycling rates in the world as a whole. Here is a list of them (data recovered from NCSL on 6/28/2019):

Additionally, if you live in the states of Michigan or Oregon, you get the highest return on any kind of bottle in the world, because every single aluminium can be worth 10 cents per can.

Only note that if you live around a state with a deposit, it’s oftentimes illegal to carry in outdoor cans for higher deposits, so you can’t get Kramer and Newman from Seinfeld New York to Michigan aluminium can transport.

Thus, kindly ensure you check the laws of the state thoroughly, so you do not get into trouble. Legal business grow consistently and peacefully.

What to do with Aluminum Cans

1. Try Manufacturing:

The above figures may have been quite discouraging. I agree, almost totallying discouraging. However, you can do something cool with your aluminium cans.#

Try manufacturing. Stay with me, please. Okay, you certainly didn’t plan to get into the manufacturing industry, but if you have the technical know-how, and the materials, you might be able to spin some of that aluminium can “straw” into some “gold” aluminium!

2. Sell Aluminum Cans

The aluminum ingots on eBay indicates they sell for up to $4.00 a pound. That’s a 570 percent markup!

With a little imagination and time, you can potentially increase the amount you receive from your cans.

To see a video describing how to melt your cans into ingots. Take into account time spent in melting the said aluminium cans plus amount used in shipping them. These should enable you decide if the income or rather, projected income is worth the effort.

Sure, we do not want you loosing money all in an effort to gain some passive income.

My smart money advise is always, focus more efforts on high-revenue investments and spare time on low-revenue ideas. That way, your efforts bring you more money and everyone is happy!

In addition, molten metal is very toxic, and only an adult can melt it and do so carefully. You need a great deal of care here. Please apply all necessary caution. No amount of generated revenue is worth you losing any body part to artificial deformity.

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Conclusion

Finally, I’ll say this to you, no ‘income idea’ is too passive to be ignored. What you may see as an inconsequential money-idea, someone may take the same idea, same circumstances or even worst and spin a million-dollar-business from it.

Thus, if you have some time, say lunch break, etc, kindly consider selling aluminium or melting and selling. You could even partner with someone who has the time to gather the aluminum cans.

Whatever your decision, I reiterate, “…focus more efforts on high-revenue investments and spare time on low-revenue ideas.”

Cheers to becoming a smart money person!