![\"Aluminum](\"https:\/\/www.recycle-plant.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Aluminum-Can-Shredder.webp\")
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The Hidden Losses of Baled Cans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
While baling reduces volume, it creates processing issues that lower your scrap price at the scale:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Melt Loss and Dross:<\/strong> Aluminum cans are made of very thin sheet. Inside a tight bale, the metal heats unevenly during melting. The outside burns into unusable dross (ash) before the inside melts, dropping your usable metal recovery down to 86\u201388%.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Trapped Water and Residue:<\/strong> Bales act like sponges. Trapped rainwater and leftover soda cannot escape. Smelters penalize wet scrap because feeding water into molten metal causes dangerous steam explosions inside the furnace.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hidden Iron Contamination:<\/strong> Food cans, bolts, or tools mixed into loose scrap get crushed deep inside the bale. Smelters reject loads with high iron content because it ruins the chemistry of aluminum alloys.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
How an Aluminum Can Shredder Improves Scrap Quality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Instead of squeezing cans flat, an aluminum can shredder<\/strong> uses spinning hammers to tear, crush, and roll the cans into small, dense shapes roughly the size of a coin or golf ball (30 mm to 80 mm).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Mechanical Paint Stripping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
As the cans bounce inside the cutting chamber, the friction flexes the thin aluminum back and forth. This action cracks and flakes off the brittle exterior ink and internal food-grade liners. The shredded paint turns into fine dust that an air exhaust system pulls away before the metal enters a furnace, resulting in far cleaner melt charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. High-Density “Popcorn” Chips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- Trapped Water and Residue:<\/strong> Bales act like sponges. Trapped rainwater and leftover soda cannot escape. Smelters penalize wet scrap because feeding water into molten metal causes dangerous steam explosions inside the furnace.<\/li>\n\n\n\n