# Aluminum Poptops Recycling

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-poptops-recycling/185362>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 30, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-poptops-recycling/185362 "2003-06-30T15:55:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-poptops-recycling/185362/21 "2021-08-27T14:31:06Z")

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> [@Great\_Antibob](#):
>
> The pop tops are NOT a “purer” form of aluminum than the rest of the can

True enough.

I briefly tried looking up the price for each alloy, but didn’t find anything.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-poptops-recycling/185362/22 "2021-08-27T14:48:59Z")

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I suppose those two alloys probably have different amounts of their respective impurities, and so one would, in fact, be purer than the other. But amount of total impurity isn’t really the relevant factor, here.

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-poptops-recycling/185362/23 "2021-08-30T03:10:37Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> I suppose those two alloys probably have different amounts of their respective impurities, and so one would, in fact, be purer than the other

True, but even this fact makes the McDonalds’ solicitation factually wrong.

> [@](#):
>
> Though the whole aluminum can is valuable, **the tab is made of a more pure form of aluminum.**

[5182 alloy (top and tab):](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5182_aluminium_alloy) 95.2% Aluminium  
[3004 alloy (body):](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3004_aluminium_alloy) 95.6% to 98.2% Aluminum.

In other words, the cans are the purer form of aluminum. The tops (and tabs) are less pure.

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