Americans drink roughly 400 soda cans per person each year, totaling around 130 billion cans annually. While most see this as harmless consumption, it’s actually a hidden goldmine.
Each aluminum can contains about 15 grams of aluminum, which can be chemically transformed into alum — a highly useful compound with applications in water purification, hygiene products, educational kits, smart materials, and more.
If the U.S. recycled 100% of its soda cans and converted them to alum, the theoretical yield would be around 17.1 million metric tons of alum per year. Depending on how that alum is used — from industrial bulk to high-value retail products — the total economic potential ranges from $10 billion to over $1 trillion annually.
In short:
The math doesn’t lie.
The cans are already being consumed.
The utility of alum speaks for itself.
Recycling soda cans is no longer just eco-friendly — it’s economically explosive.