Aluminium recycling helps Africa

Six tonnes of cooking foil was also collected

More than 88 tonnes of aluminium have been recycled in the last 12 months by residents of Bath and North East Somerset (Banes).

The metal gathered from kerbside collections is likely to be turned into car parts or drinks cans.

A council spokesman said using recycled foil and cans was much more cost-effective than raw production.

For each tonne recycled the reprocessing company also donates a fruit tree to communities in Malawi.

Councillor Charles Gerrish said the aluminium collected between July 2007 and July 2008 represented six tonnes of cooking foil and 82 tonnes of drinks cans

"Every kilogram of recycled aluminium saves over 14 kilowatt hours (kW/h) of electricity, resulting in 1.25 million kW/h of electricity saved in our district.

"This is because using recycled aluminium requires just five percent of the energy and produces five percent of carbon dioxide emissions compared to primary production, " he added.