[RonF]

My Boy Scout Troop recycles aluminum cans. Given that I can sell empty cans to numerous outlets for $0.31/pound, I'm figuring that there's a real savings in recycling this stuff. I'm told that reusing aluminum cans to make more cans, instead of processing new bauxite for this purpose, saves lots of electricity. Also, aluminum cans aren't going to degrade in landfills.

[John H K]

Aluminum cans are the ONLY thing that is economically viable for recycling; as you note, refining bauxite ore requires ridiculous amounts of electricity, so that the total cost of collecting used cans, melting them down, and making new cans is less than the cost of making new cans from bauxite ore.

That's it. And since it makes money in a free market, people would do it on their own without local ordinances requiring it.

ALL other recycling is a waste of money and doesn't do anything to help the environment.