The Value of old Tin Cans.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 27 September 1910, Page 4

The Value of old Tin Cans.

Few things are regarded as loss value by the average citizen than the discarded tin can; but, nevertheless, the most battered is of no considerable value, and nothing but the label is useless, and even this may find its way into , a market with othei refuso paper. The old tin cans of a city find their way to the ash dumps, from which they are carefully collected b} professional scavengers, who know where to find factories exclusively engaged in the converting of just such material. The first .process that turns the old can into a new one, or into something else, is tlie exposing of them to a high heat, which melts tho solder. This .runs off into a receptacle, and is sold for sixpence a pound. By this moans the tops and bottoms of the cans are likewise iremoved, and subsequently a-ro smashed into a homogeneous mass by a steam hammer and out up into sash weights for windows. Cans which are in first-class second-hand condition have only the tops unsoldered, and with new bottoms and tons added, are utilised as receptacles for paints and vairnishes. The cylindrical parts of cans are usually more or less dented and battered, but this is not a drawback of much importance. Rolled out perfectly flat by machinery they serve extensively as roofing material for small buildings, and for covering tho bottoms and corners <of trunks. That the old tin can is a means of revenue for the municipality hah been recognised by at least one city. Liverpool, England, has one .plant for its utilisation, and last year cleared nearly two lnmdired pounds. Another and larpror plant is now being built, and the health commission of that city expects the revenue to reach a figure not less than six hundred pounds a year.