Application: single-stream MRFs
Aluminum recovery on MRF container lines
On a single-stream MRF, aluminum cans are recovered on the container line, after screens take out fiber and glass and a magnet takes out steel. This page follows the cans along that line: where the eddy current separator sits, where cans leave the line before they reach it, and where plants add recovery.
- Aluminum and non-ferrous
- Ferrous
- Fiber
- Glass
- Film
- Other and residue
1The stream
A single-stream material recovery facility (MRF) takes household recyclables collected together in one cart. It sorts them into fiber, plastics, glass, steel and aluminum.
Cans are a small part of what arrives. Across eight composition studies, aluminum cans averaged about 2.2% of inbound weight in states without a container deposit, and about 0.4% in deposit states. Source: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020 (source 1).
The target is the used beverage can. Foil, trays and pet-food cans travel with it, and some of them reach the aluminum product. Section 3 shows how much.
The buyer grades the product. ReMA's grade for baled cans, Taldon, asks for magnetically separated beverage cans only, with no steel, lead, plastic, glass, wood, dirt or trash. Bale density must be at least 14 lb/ft³, and at most 17 lb/ft³ for unflattened cans or 22 lb/ft³ for flattened cans. The grade sets no aluminum percentage. Source: ReMA, ReMA's ISRI Specifications, 2026 (source 2).
Buyers' own specifications are covered in aluminum scrap grades and what buyers accept.
For national context: by the Aluminum Association's measure, which compares cans recycled with cans shipped, US consumers recycled 43.0% of the cans shipped in 2023. Source: Aluminum Association and CMI, The Aluminum Can Advantage: Sustainability Key Performance Indicators, 2024 (source 3).
2Where the separator sits
Screens split flat fiber from round containers. On the container line, a magnet pulls steel cans, and the eddy current separator typically follows it. Source: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020 (source 1).
| Stage | What it does | What it means for cans |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Presort | People pull material by hand before the screens, including bags. | Cans inside a bag leave with the bag. |
| 2. Glass-breaker screen | Drops glass and fines of about 2 in and smaller, early in the line. One maker says its screen does this without losing flattened aluminum. | Operators say items under 2 to 3 in across at least two dimensions, including small and crushed cans, can fall through with the glass. |
| 3. Fiber screens | Disc or star screens split flat fiber from round containers. | A flattened can behaves like paper and can ride over with the fiber. |
| 4. Magnet | Pulls steel cans off the container line. Steel cans are caught more easily once newspaper is no longer lying on them. | Can buyers require magnetically separated material. |
| 5. Eddy current separator | Throws aluminum and other non-ferrous metal into its own product. At one MRF it sits after steel-can and HDPE removal. | Vendors commonly guarantee capture of 95% or more of the cans that reach it. |
| 6. Quality control | Some MRFs staff a station to clean the separator's product. Others sell the product as it comes off. | The product also carries other metal, fiber and plastic. |
| 7. Baler | Bales the aluminum product. | Taldon sets bale density limits (section 1). |
Sources: GBB for CMI, 2020, for stages 1, 3, 5 and 6 (source 1); Kessler Consulting for Pinellas County, Materials Recovery Facility Technology Review, 2009, for disc and star screens and steel cans under newspaper (source 4); Bulk Handling Systems and Green Machine product pages, undated, for glass-breaker screens, makers' own descriptions (sources 5 and 6); RRS for CMI, PFI and HCPA, 2021, for small cans at the glass screen (source 7); CMI, 2020, for the separator after steel-can and HDPE removal (source 12); ReMA, 2026, for magnetically separated material (source 2).
Plants vary in order and in the number of stages. In a 2009 review of US MRFs, three plants sent the container stream to a magnet and a separator, with a sort line. A fourth listed its separator ahead of its electromagnets, without saying whether the list was in process order. Source: Kessler Consulting for Pinellas County, Materials Recovery Facility Technology Review, 2009 (source 4).
No source gives a typical size range reaching the separator on a US container line. One 2009 site example sent 2 to 9 in material from trommels to disc screens, whose unders, mostly containers, went to the magnet and separator. Source: Kessler, 2009 (source 4). Typical range: [size range reaching the separator on US container lines: no published source; the affiliate's job records could supply one].
Steel that slips past the magnet reaches the separator, which is not built to remove it: the separator makers' manuals call for magnets first, as the eddy current reference explains. Magnet types and placement are in removing ferrous metal before the separator.
3Where the cans go
GBB combined three MRF mass-balance studies for CMI. Each one counted where the incoming cans ended up.
| Study | Aluminum product | Fiber | Residue | Other outlets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon DEQ, five facilities, 2011 | 65.6% | 28.1% | 3.1% | 3.1% |
| A Midwest MRF, 2015 | 79.4% (estimated) | 11.2% | 9.5% | Not reported |
| A Florida MRF, 2018 | 75.2% | 7.2% | 9.0% | 8.6% |
| Average of the three | 73.4% | 15.5% | 7.2% | 5.9% |
Source: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020, Table 2 (source 1). Each column is averaged on its own, so the average row does not add to 100%; the other-outlets average covers two studies. GBB estimated the Midwest recovery figure from the cans found in residue; it was not measured. GBB's Oregon row differs slightly from the state's own table, which gives 67.0% to aluminum. Three studies are a small sample, and GBB adds that MRF can losses have not been studied enough.
Much of the loss happens before the separator
Vendors commonly guarantee that a separator captures 95% or more of the cans that reach it, with exceptions such as deformed cans. One Florida test found more than 99%. GBB concludes that much of the loss is cans that never get to the separator. Source: GBB for CMI, 2020, citing Waste Advantage, 2017 (source 1).
Residue lines
One robot maker's 2020 data, quoted by GBB, found cans far more often on residue lines than on fiber lines: about 3.5% of the objects its units saw on residue lines, against about 0.05% on fiber lines. Source: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020 (source 1).
Oregon's study
Oregon DEQ sampled five commingled facilities. About 67% of aluminum cans were sorted to the aluminum market, from about 39% to 87% by facility. About 22% left in newspaper bales, and the state notes that cans shipped with paper are ultimately disposed. Source: Oregon DEQ, Composition of Commingled Recyclables Before and After Processing, 2011 (source 8).
Foil and pet-food cans fared worse. About a third reached aluminum or scrap-metal markets, about 40% went to newspaper and about 17% to garbage. Source: Oregon DEQ, 2011 (source 8).
The study is from 2011, and Oregon has a container deposit. In deposit states cans are a smaller share of what MRFs receive (section 1).
Measuring recovery
Bale weight alone overstates can recovery. The separator also captures roughly a quarter of the other aluminum in the stream, so comparing incoming cans with outgoing bales counts that metal as cans. Source: GBB for CMI, 2020 (source 1).
In Oregon the outgoing aluminum product, by weight, was about 79.5% beverage cans, 14.6% foil and pet-food cans and 2.2% steel cans. Source: Oregon DEQ, 2011 (source 8). A mass balance, like the three studies above, counts cans in every output stream instead.
4Why cans are lost
Most of these causes act before the container line, so the cans never reach the separator. The last two act at the separator itself.
| Cause | What happens |
|---|---|
| Bagged material | Bags are pulled at presort, with any cans inside. |
| Flattened cans | They behave like paper on the screens and travel with the fiber. |
| Crushed cans ("pucks") | They are smaller than most MRF screen openings, so they fall into fines or residue. |
| Small cans at the glass screen | Operators report that items under 2 to 3 in across at least two dimensions can fall through with the glass. How many is not known. |
| Belt transitions | Material falls off where one conveyor hands over to the next. |
| Rejected loads | Heavily contaminated loads are sometimes rejected whole. |
| Sleeves and plastic tops | Plastic labels, sleeves and lids may lower a can's response to the separator, and an optical sorter may read a PET-sleeved can as PET. No measurement of the effect was found; GBB says the data are limited. |
| Deformed cans | Vendors name them as an exception to their capture guarantee. |
Sources: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020 (source 1), except small cans at the glass screen: RRS for CMI, PFI and HCPA, 2021 (source 7), and the sleeve effects: Aluminum Association, Four Keys to Circular Recycling: An Aluminum Container Design Guide, 2020, which says "may" (source 9).
Tests by RRS in 2022 at five loss points in three MRFs found an average of 7 to 36 cans missorted per minute. Sources: CMI, Aluminum Beverage Cans U.S. Recycling Rate Target Update, 2024 (source 10); Resource Recycling, Aluminum industry rolls out new model to bolster MRFs, 2022 (source 11).
On lines the publisher's affiliate has built: [whether flattened cans riding over the fiber screens are a common complaint: question for Remcon's shop].
5Where plants add recovery
GBB names a second eddy current separator on the residue line as the most common fix. Robots on the fiber line are a newer option. GBB also names anti-wrap fiber screens and a bag breaker at presort. Source: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020 (source 1).
| Added point | Change in can capture |
|---|---|
| Bag breaker at presort | +3.8 points |
| Robot on the fiber line | +5.8 points |
| Eddy current separator on the residue line | +8.5 points |
| All three together | From 75.2% to 93.3% |
Source: GBB for CMI, 2020 (source 1). GBB says each plant needs its own assessment.
CMI also collected operators' own accounts of equipment they added.
| What was added, and where | What the operator reported |
|---|---|
| Second separator on the glass discharge line, a Missouri MRF | About 15 tons of aluminum a month, including crushed cans, can pieces and small cans that had been reaching residue. |
| Second separator on the glass discharge line, a Maryland MRF | About 15 tons a month. The retrofit was difficult. |
| Second separator on the outthrow of the glass cleaning system, an Ohio MRF | Captures about 94% of the cans presented to it. |
| Third separator at the end of the trash line, the same Ohio MRF | Added about 9.8% to total can volume. |
| Screens, ballistic separators and a larger second separator, a Minnesota MRF | Containers in paper grades fell by half. Estimated can loss from missorting fell from between 3% and 5% to under 2%. |
| A first separator, a Michigan county MRF | Installed where manual sorting was missing up to about 300 lb of cans a day. |
Source: CMI, Examples of MRFs Who Have Successfully Added Aluminum Can Capture Equipment, 2020 (source 12).
Three of these points sit on the glass line. What arrives with MRF glass, and the chain of machines that takes metal out of cullet: Getting aluminum and other non-ferrous metal out of glass cullet.
Placing and feeding a separator is covered in designing the line, in the aluminum recovery guide.
A worked example: [an anonymised container line built by the publisher's affiliate: pending Sean's decision to publish it].
6Technologies on this line
The table names each machine's job on the container line. Screening, magnetic and eddy current separation, and sensor-based sorting for metals have their own pages; a page on quality control is in preparation.
| Technology | Its job here |
|---|---|
| Screening | Splits fiber from containers and drops glass, so it decides which cans reach the container line. |
| Magnetic separation | Pulls steel cans ahead of the separator. |
| Eddy current separation | Throws aluminum and other non-ferrous metal into its own product. |
| Sensor-based sorting | Optical sorters sort plastics. One may read a PET-sleeved can as PET and send it to the plastic bale (section 4). |
| Quality control | Cleans the separator's product; robots also pick cans on fiber and residue lines. |
Sources: as cited in sections 2 and 4; robots on fiber and residue lines: GBB for CMI, 2020 (source 1); optical sorters and sleeved cans: Aluminum Association, 2020 (source 9).
Who publishes this. Recyclers Guide is published by [LLC name], an affiliate of Remcon Equipment, Inc. Remcon designs and builds conveyors and eddy current separator systems around rotors or complete separators made by others, builds overhead magnet units, magnetic head pulleys and trommels, resells screens and feeders, and integrates equipment discussed on this site.
How Remcon Equipment, the publisher's affiliate, builds a separator, including for single-stream lines, is on its eddy current separator page. Its sorting and separation overview lists the other machines it builds or resells. [split between this page and Remcon's single-stream and can sections, and which site answers the general can-separation question: pending Sean's decision]
7Questions
Where do MRFs lose aluminum cans?
Much of the loss happens before the separator. Across three MRF studies combined by GBB for CMI, about 73% of cans reached the aluminum product on average, 15.5% went to fiber, 7.2% to residue and 5.9% to other outlets. Flattened cans ride with paper, crushed cans fall through screens, bagged cans leave at presort and some cans spill at transfers. Source: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020.
Why do aluminum cans end up in the paper bale?
A flattened can behaves like paper on the screens that split flat fiber from round containers, so it can ride over with the fiber. In Oregon's 2011 study about 22% of cans left in newspaper bales, and the state notes that cans shipped with paper are ultimately disposed. Sources: GBB for CMI, 2020; Oregon DEQ, Composition of Commingled Recyclables Before and After Processing, 2011.
How many of the cans that reach an eddy current separator does it capture?
Vendors commonly guarantee capture of 95% or more of the cans that reach it on the container line, with exceptions such as deformed cans. One Florida test found more than 99%. These are vendor guarantees and one test, reported second-hand, not a survey of plants. Source: GBB for CMI, Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System, 2020.
Do plastic sleeves stop a can being recovered?
They may. The Aluminum Association says plastic labels, sleeves and lids may lower a can's response to an eddy current separator, and that an optical sorter may read a PET-sleeved can as PET and send it to the plastic bale. GBB, writing for the Can Manufacturers Institute, says the data are limited. No measured figure was found. Sources: Aluminum Association, Four Keys to Circular Recycling, 2020; GBB for CMI, 2020.
Where do MRFs add a second recovery point for cans?
GBB names a second eddy current separator on the residue line as the most common fix, with robots on the fiber line as a newer option. Operators in CMI's case list also added separators on the glass discharge line and at the end of the trash line. Sources: GBB for CMI, 2020; CMI, Examples of MRFs Who Have Successfully Added Aluminum Can Capture Equipment, 2020.
Does bale weight show how many cans a MRF recovers?
Not on its own. The separator also captures roughly a quarter of the other aluminum in the stream, so comparing incoming cans with outgoing bale weight overstates can recovery. In Oregon about 14.6% of the aluminum product by weight was foil and pet-food cans. Sources: GBB for CMI, 2020; Oregon DEQ, 2011.
8Sources
Figures from these sources are paraphrased, not quoted.
- Gershman, Brickner & Bratton (GBB) for the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI). Aluminum Beverage Can: Driver of the U.S. Recycling System. June 23, 2020. Industry association, commissioned report. cancentral.com (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- Recycled Materials Association (ReMA). ReMA's ISRI Specifications, July 2026 edition, Taldon, p. 8. Trade specification. isrispecs.org (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- Aluminum Association and Can Manufacturers Institute. The Aluminum Can Advantage: Sustainability Key Performance Indicators. December 2024. Industry association. aluminum.org (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- Kessler Consulting, Inc., for Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste Operations. Materials Recovery Facility Technology Review. September 2009. Government-commissioned report, third-party host. nswai.org (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- Bulk Handling Systems. Glass Breaker DRS. Undated product page. Manufacturer. bulkhandlingsystems.com. Read 2026-10-06.
- Green Machine. Glass Breaker & Fines Removal. Undated product page. Manufacturer. greenmachine.com. Read 2026-10-06.
- Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) for CMI, PFI and HCPA. Surveying State of MRF and End Market Barriers to Recycling Steel and Aluminum Aerosols and Pet Food Cans. February 2021. Industry association, commissioned study. cancentral.com (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (P. Spendelow). Composition of Commingled Recyclables Before and After Processing, report 11-LQ-014. March 2011. Government. oregon.gov (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- Aluminum Association. Four Keys to Circular Recycling: An Aluminum Container Design Guide. September 2020. Industry association. aluminum.org (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- Can Manufacturers Institute. Aluminum Beverage Cans U.S. Recycling Rate Target Update. December 2024. Industry association. cancentral.com (PDF). Read 2026-10-06.
- M. Heffernan. Aluminum industry rolls out new model to bolster MRFs. Resource Recycling, June 28, 2022. Trade press. resource-recycling.com. Read 2026-10-06.
- Can Manufacturers Institute. Examples of MRFs Who Have Successfully Added Aluminum Can Capture Equipment. December 2, 2020. Industry association, operator statements. cancentral.com. Read 2026-10-06.
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