Turning Trash Into Treasure: How Better Aluminum Recycling Can Shield America From Tariff Pain

America doesn’t have an aluminum shortage — it has an aluminum collection problem. Right now, billions of dollars’ worth of this endlessly recyclable metal is being buried in landfills, even as beverage companies, automakers, and manufacturers grapple with record-high prices driven by a 50% tariff on imported aluminum.

The solution? It’s already in our hands — or more accurately, in our garbage bins.

A recent Wall Street Journal article summed it up plainly: “Recycling is the answer… The metal is already here.”Over the last 25 years, U.S. production of primary aluminum (made from bauxite ore) has collapsed, leaving us dependent on imports. But thanks to efficient new recycling plants, the U.S. has become a major producer of secondary aluminum from scrap. This recycled metal requires just 5% of the energy needed for primary production and can be brought online faster and at a fraction of the cost.

Unfortunately, we’re not collecting nearly enough of it. The Journal reported that more than $1 billion worth of beverage cans were thrown away in the U.S. last year alone — by weight, that’s roughly equal to all the primary aluminum we produced domestically. Add to that the aluminum lost when junked cars, demolition debris, and old electronics aren’t properly sorted, and the waste is staggering.

With tariffs pushing U.S. aluminum prices to historic highs, the cost is rippling through the economy. According to the Wall Street Journal, Molson Coors expects an extra $40–$55 million in expenses this year. Ford has warned of a $2 billion hit to annual earnings, with consumers likely to see higher prices once stockpiles run out.

Building more recycling capacity here at home can cut that pain in half, the Journal noted, citing industry estimates. But without better collection systems, much of the scrap we need will keep ending up in landfills — or shipped overseas, where it’s sorted by hand and fed into foreign supply chains.

Texas has the population, the consumption, and the industrial base to be a national leader in closing the aluminum loop. But to do that, we have to stop letting valuable material escape our economy.

That’s where a market-driven deposit recycling system comes in. By giving consumers a small refund for returning beverage containers, we can dramatically increase aluminum can recovery rates — often above 80% in states that have such systems. That means more feedstock for domestic recycling plants, less reliance on volatile imports, and a cleaner environment here at home.

For Texans, this is about more than environmental stewardship. It’s about protecting our manufacturing sector from unpredictable global markets, keeping money circulating in our economy instead of buried in landfills, and ensuring that the aluminum in your next can of iced tea or pickup truck chassis comes from right here in the U.S.

If we want to turn tariff pain into Texas opportunity, it starts with one simple step: stop throwing away money, and start collecting it.