I am concerned about the environment so I collect empty aluminum cans off the street when I walk my dog. Right now I have 3 large garbage bags full of crushed aluminum can. The problem is... some of the cans have dirt on and in them. Some of thoroughly flattened ones may even have small pebbles embedded in them. Will these be accepted at the recycling facility? I'm guessing it doesn't matter because when they melt them any organic materials will burn away and any dirt particles or small pebbles will be separated from the molten aluminum. What do you think?
You might need to wash them first.
yes they won't care about dirt
No problem with dirt and dust.
The dirt won't be a problem, normally. The pebbles might, but I haven't heard any mention of this being a problem. Add: Aluminum melts at around 960 F, while most rocks won't. By that time, the dried up sugars and cigarette butts will have all burned off. You can melt aluminum in a cast iron frying pan, but I really don't recommend trying that: If a drop of water hits the molten aluminum it'll expand somewhere around 1700 times it's original volume, nearly instantly. This will be like a small bomb going off, and molten aluminum will spray all over. That's quite dangerous, even if you do have protective gear.
