RECYCLE Recycling is a vital part of caring for the environment. Steel is manufactured from an almost inexhaustible supply of iron ore in the world and it is fully recyclable. Steel is the most recycled product in the world on an industrial scale as well as in the home. In fact, steel scrap is a necessary component in the steelmaking process. Both steel and tin are able to be reused an infinite number of times. Many factories pays a guaranteed minimum price for a baled tonne of steel cans - it will collect the bales from anywhere in Malaysia and transport them at no cost to its nearest steelworks. Steel can recycling makes good economic, as well as environmental, sense. It makes a substantial saving on landfill space requirements and it helps conserve Malaysia's resources.

	Steel cans help save energy Because there is no need for refrigeration in the transport and storage of steel food cans, less energy is used than with frozen foods and the many fresh foods that must be kept refrigerated. Using old steel cans to make new steel also preserves Malaysia's energy and resources. For every tonne of steel scrap recycled, around 1.5 tonnes of iron ore, one tonne of coke and half a tonne of limestone are saved in the production of a tonne of steel. Melting down one tonne of recycled steel cans uses only 25% of the energy needed to melt enough ingredients to make one tonne of all-new steel. Around 80% of the energy required by the steel plant comes in the form of gas recovered from the coke ovens and blast furnace operations. BHP has spent $300 million upgrading its tinplate manufacturing facilities at Port Kembla steelworks. Water is being reused within the plant, collection and treatment of air emissions has been improved and disposal of waste products is being minimised by recycling and reuse.

	Steel food cans should all be recycled Once you've used the contents, food cans (including petfood cans) just need to be rinsed, not scrubbed, for sanitary reasons before they are placed in the recycling crate or bin - there's no need to remove the label. The contents of your recycling bin are collected from the kerbside and the steel cans and other materials are taken by the truck to Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs). There, the steel cans are magnetically separated from the other recyclables. The cans are compressed into bales ready for transport by BHP to either its Whyalla or Port Kembla steelworks. The tin coating used to protect against corrosion is removed in some cases before the steel is reused. All the steel cans are then combined with other steel scrap and melted in a furnace to make new steel which is then used to make new steel products.