reusa-can

The Greenest Project on the Planet

Reusa-Can is a unique method of refurbishing*(not recycling) food and beverage can’s. It eliminates all energy wasting recycling processes reduces our imports and transportation to a minimum. We take your used can and refurbish it into a new can. We are able to refurbish the same can up to ten times before they need to be replaced with a new one.

The difference between recycling and ‘REFURBISHING’ is that ‘recycled’ cans are crushed after collection and shipped at enormous cost thousands of miles to another country. They are smelted down into steel ingots from which eventually they make the tinplate to remake the cans we have just destroyed.

‘Refurbishing’ cans means the cans are renewed in this country, or whichever country they are purchased, and renewed to a pristine condition so they can be reused time and again.

Can refurbishing is shown in Picture 1 below. In simple terms the rim is removed from each can and the can is cleaned and re-lacquered so that it can be reused for whatever purpose the customer wishes. No shipping transport, no energy, no new materials and no pollution.

reusa-can uses ‘no new materials’

Picture 1

Can ‘A’ is a standard can of beans; ‘B’ is an empty can but with its rim still in position. ‘C’ shows an empty can with its rim removed and no damage to the can. The removed rim is next to it. ‘D’ is a plain un-lacquered de-rimmed can with a cap in position ready to be sealed. ‘E’ is a refurbished can lacquered inside and out. Finally ‘F’ shows a finished can capped and sealed with another product in it. It could be used for anything including food. There is no difference in height or capacity. Each can could be refurbished up to ten times; this increases savings by ten.

Cans are sterilised several times prior to being re-lacquered. Inside lacquers would suit whatever food or other products put into it. No new materials are used apart from lacquers and only enough energy is used to power machines. Each refurbished can is as good as a new can. Reusa-Can eliminates all wasteful recycling processes including crushing and transporting them to other countries such as India or China. India and China create more pollution than any other countries on earth; help them reduce it.

Shoppers: did you know 20-40% of canned food price is in the can?

Having emptied a can and washed it ready to go in your green bin, what you have in your hand is a perfectly good container with a seal cap missing. Part of that seal cap is left around the top of each can forming a rim. Reusa-Can has a method of removing that rim without damaging the can body or reducing its height or capacity.

When received at the refurbishing plant cans would be cleaned and separated into aluminium or steel cans. They are also separated into different types and sizes. Then they are de-rimmed, sterilised and given a new lacquer finish. This entire operation should take no longer than six hours to complete.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has no objection, in principle, to refurbished cans being used. Their main concern is surface materials that come in contact with food should not cause any contamination or affect food quality in any way. Reusa-Can is suitable for any product and lacquers would be supplied to suit customer’s requirements.

Reusa–Can is able refurbish 75% of our used cans. Reusa-Can will aim to return most of the profit back to ratepayers. Used cans need not leave the country in which they are sold; refurbish them instead. This would save millions of transport miles in shipping and sea pollution.

Most cans are not damaged prior to or during collection. Waste companies have confirmed that up to 80% of cans are not damaged. Of those damaged, 90% is due to the public deliberately crushing them thinking they are being helpful to waste companies. ‘New cans’ do not get damaged when travelling by lorry. We also import ‘cans’ they have to travel thousands of miles by ship and lorry to food packing companies. In the USA they request the public do not crush their cans (Naugatuck Recycling). The UK and others countries could make the same request to their own people. Look in ‘green’ boxes on collection day before the collection lorries take them away, very few cans are damaged.

reusa-can requests you sign its petition

Give your opinion and support to Reusa-Can on our blog and join the campaign by signing our petition and tell others about it.  We want the public to support our request for a government grant for the Reusa-Can project.  Initially Reusa-Can wants a grant to do Research and Development to develop automatic machinery to get this project working under automatic production conditions.  Reusa-Can will then want further grants to set up a production plant big enough to refurbish the huge amount of cans we are presently destroying.  In total the whole Reusa-Can project will need about £20-£40 million in grants to get it into full production.  We will save that amount twenty times over in one year by reducing foreign imports of tinplate. 

Reusa-Can has recently been given the full support of the General Secretaryof the National Pensioners Convention who stated: Having read your letter and viewed your website, and am definitely passing on the information to our affiliates and take this opportunity to wish you well with your campaign.  Your project reminds me of the ‘everlastng match’ the invention of which was suppressed because it was more profitable to manufacture throwaway matches. 

We pointed out the Director General the benefits of Reusa-Can to those who are unemployed, or on low incomes of which many are pensioners.  Hopefully the members, of which we believe there 100,000, will sign our petition.  They will get more benefits from Reusa can than they will from the present system where everything goes to multinationals.  This is wrong.

Sign our petition NOW! (Click here sign our petition and tell a friend) The public will benefit directly from Reusa-Can.

If anyone doesn’t agree with Reusa-Can or don’t like our website tell us why.  If you do support us sign the petition.

We have suggested to the Prime Minister that the UK holds a twelve months supply of refurbished cans for just such an emergency but he totally ignored our suggestion. 

DEFRA and Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) have a policy (DEFRA Recommendation 3) stating: ‘that reuse of products is desirable where it is the most environmentally beneficial and cost-effective option’.   They don’t carry out there own directives when it comes to steel and aluminium cans.

reusa-can cuts food cost, returns money to taxpayers

UK canned food prices have increased 124% annually for the past two years mainly due to tinplate price increases (Crown Price Increases) and (Tin Prices Soar). These increases were caused by an oil shortage and increasing demand by Far Eastern countries for tinplate and canned food. As their needs increase so will their demand for oil. More oil shortages are forecast in 2012/13 when oil production will ‘Peak’ according to oil experts (Oil Consumption Meter). We were not ready when the last oil shortage occurred but with government help we could be ready next time.

We have an abundance of good cans in the UK that are destroyed that could be refurbished now and reused had the government allowed Reusa-Can a grant. Refurbished cans could be reproduced at less than 10% of the cost of new cans and they can be refurbished ten times. Total cost recovery of a new plant should be achieved within four years of attaining full production of food and beverage cans. From then on it would provide huge returns for council taxpayers. It is ludicrous to destroy a perfectly good reusable product and then remake it from new materials. We need to conserve all our resources and food and beverage cans are a precious resource. They are not scrap.

The government gave its firmest indication on 11th August 2009 on BBC Radio 4 that food costs will increase dramatically in future years. Reusa-Can has sent them reports for four years making this very point and has been totally ignored. Politicians are still hiding the full extent of, not only our problems, but those the rest of the world will face in future. My letter dated the 4th July 2007 sent to Rt.Hon. John Hutton MP and Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn MP prove this (John Hutton MP). Mr Benn has never replied to this letter and Mr Hutton refused to answer my questions on the ‘grounds of security’.

Tinplate manufacturers increased their prices in December 2008 although raw material prices had decreased, it may have been good for them but not for the public (Tinplate Prices). Reusa-Can will reduce UK canned food prices by approximately £1.5 billion per annum. We will also return a majority of money from sales, potentially £1.5 billion, to taxpayers for good causes. Why import tinplate at prices between £500 and £1,000 per tonne to make new cans when we have good quality cans that could be refurbished and reused available at £10 per tonne?

Tinplate prices have decreased in the last few months but will increase again dramatically in the future. According to oil experts like Matt Simmons and Dr Colin Campbell world production of ‘easy oil’ (the type that gushes out of the ground) is decreasing and demand is increasing (Higher Oil Prices). To give an idea of our rate of oil consumption throughout the world there is a World Oil Consumption Meter below courtesy of Energy & Capital. It shows how many days are left before ‘easy oil’ runs out. As soon as you opened the homepage it started to register. Depending on how fast a reader you are, the world will have probably used 300,000 barrels from the time you started reading this report to the time you reach it. This latest ‘Oil Warning’ report tells you of our situation (Independent On Sunday).

reusa-can and your ‘Green’ box

Reusa-Can is in favour of every household having a ‘Green’ box. It appears that a large number of households who want to recycle do not have a green box to put their metal cans in. This means that any person who cannot get to a community waste collection centre is forced to put their cans into their black refuse bag. Cans that could be refurbished, and other recyclables, end up in landfill sites. Losses to the public in sales of refurbished cans could be as high as £365 million per annum. Stop this waste Click here and ‘Sign our Petition’ and tell a friend.

reusa-can benefits of a refurbished can

New cans produce 3 times their own weight of CO² emissions during manufacture. A Reusa-Can produces none.

Picture 2
We sent a letter to the Prime Minister pointing out that tinplate manufacturers were increasing prices to can manufacturers at a time when many people were suffering hardships. We pointed out the public were being exploited and Reusa-Can could help reduce canned food cost. There are perfectly good ready-made fully tested steel cans that could be reused at £10 per tonne being destroyed. The Prime Minister has not replied. The Prime Minister does not appear to care about UK shoppers or ratepayer’s suffering or unnecessary imports or energy cost. We have been paying up to £1,000 per tonne for imported tinplate to manufacture new cans to subsidise multinationals. We believe the Prime Minister is more concerned about keeping his close relationship with multinationals than reducing canned food prices.

We have a letter from a government department stating that they want projects that increase production not decrease it. Reusa-Can cannot get a government grant because we aim to decrease production, reduce energy and fossil fuels and CO² emissions etc. You cannot achieve lower emissions or use less energy by increasing production. The only certain way to cut CO² gases is to stop producing it!! We are running out of resources. Oil is not a renewable resource, when its gone it has gone for good and all the talk of renewable energy making up its shortfall is nonsense (Will New Oil Fields Prevent An Oil Peak).

Reusa-Can wants to cooperate with local councils by having three or four can refurbishment plants throughout the UK. Several councils would welcome this.

Oil prices are beginning to increase again; it is over $72 (11/06/2009) from recent lows of $35 per barrel. The oil consumption meter on page 6 shows the world is using 1,000 barrels of oil every second. By 2012/13 we will have reached peak oil production, according to some it has already peaked. Shortages of oil will occur and tinplate prices will increase again and so will food prices. We are likely run short of tinplate to make cans again; this could lead to food shortages and could cause public unrest. (Redemption Song). We have to conserve our supplies of everything.

Reusa-Can will reduce oil usage and our imports of tinplate. It saves energy it also reduces CO² emissions transportation mileage and production costs worldwide. A positive way to begin to cut these costs is to sign our petition; (click here and sign our petition then tell a friend). As we have seen recently politicians can be strongly influenced by strong public opinion.

Politicians ask the public to recycle more, reduce energy, save water and cut waste. Get them to reduce industrial emissions by supporting Reusa-Can research and development. They talk and warn about global warming; they should support a project that provides more savings for UK shoppers, ratepayers and environment than any other individual project in the world. Reusa-Can does not need any new material to make a new finished product!! Reusa-Can is a unique ‘British’ project. (Click here and sign our petition then tell a friend)

reusa-can will save energy and oil

Reusa-Can is designed to reuse the hundreds of billions of food and beverage cans produced throughout the world. It will not save the world from an oil shortage; it is not designed to do that. It is hoped that by reusing our resources more wisely it will slow down our use of oil and other precious resources. Also reduce land, water and atmospheric pollution. Reusa-Can is the ‘Holy Grail’ of recycling. There is no another project where you get a new product from an old product without using new materials, almost no energy and have a surplus of material when you have remade it.

Detailed figures of savings are in Part 2 of this report.

Read both parts of this report, leave a message on the blog and sign the petition. (Click here for the petition and tell a friend)

reusa-can how it would help in the next oil crisis

Our world is in crisis. We are running out of resources oil and energy are in short supply. Oil, one of our most vital resources, is required for everything we produce including can manufacture. The world has used 1.5 trillion barrels of oil over the last 160 years (The Truth About Oil). It is forecast we will use that same amount in the next twenty years. By 2030 our world population will be close to 9 billion. Oil experts claim world oil production needs to be 116 million barrels per day by 2030 to maintain today’s standard of living (Higher oil Prices). This will not be possible. We will be producing 39 million barrels per day (mbpd) according to oil experts. Tar sand oil or Shale oil will not solve our problems, it is likely to be too expensive and difficult to get out (Australian Shale). The environmental cost of both is horrendous. In Canada they are using 600 million cubic feet of natural gas per day just to extract tar sand oil, they are now running short of natural gas (Canadian Oil Sands). We are facing meltdown within five years. Apparently there is even talk of building nuclear power stations to provide energy to extract tar sand oil.

We cannot keep increasing production, using more resources and spewing out huge volumes of industrial pollution (30 billion tonnes per annum) and ignore its consequences. It is affecting our health and environment (EU Minister). Reusa-Can would reduce can production, as we know it today, by up to 66%. Savings of resources and the environment would be enormous and a major part of profits should go back to the public, in whichever country our plants are set up. When oil supplies decline so will the canning industry; we will not be able to get enough tinplate and aluminium to make cans – or anything else. Our lives will change in many ways.

Developing countries ask industrialised countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions Reusa-Can will help do that. It would demonstrate to governments worldwide the UK is prepared to cut industrial emissions. However, as soon as our government are asked to cut major industrial emissions by supporting Reusa-Can they have refused to do it - so far.

We have warned government ministers and other politicians associated with government since 2005 that we could run out of tinplate to make cans due to an oil crisis (Rt.Hon. John Hutton MP Letter). This nearly happened due to oil shortages in 2008 and still the Prime Minister has refused Reusa-Can research and development assistance (Crown Oil Prices) and (PM Letter). Other politicians sat on the sidelines refusing, or afraid, to comment.

The governments’ report on UK future oil requirements written in 2008 by the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) illustrates our perilous position. By 2013 we will have an oil revenue deficit of $200 billion dollars per annum and it will continue to grow year after year.

Some people may not understand how this will affect them, so we will explain. It means, we will be ‘importing’ and using $200 billion more of oil per annum than we are producing from North Sea Oil. That will have to be paid for. The UK will have to sell and produce another $200 billion of ‘profit’ (not just sales) from export sales to pay for that oil. India and China have the lowest paid manual workers in the world and multinationals want to use their ‘cheap’ labour to make even more profit. We will have to compete with this market. How are we going to do it?

So how are we going to make tinplate to make cans? If we cannot there will be no canned food. We are not prepared!!

We have suggested to the Prime Minister that the UK holds a twelve months supply of refurbished cans for just such an emergency but he totally ignored our suggestion.

The Prime Minister pledged to look after British interests. The Prime Minister seems to ignore his pledge; he seems to be knowingly exploiting UK shoppers on a daily basis. Taxpayers and UK shoppers are the big losers. The Prime Minister is ignoring massive energy savings and import reductions by pandering to foreign multinationals at the expense of UK shoppers and council taxpayers.

Reusa-Can is a huge multimillion project. If we are to be ready for the next oil crisis we should act now, whilst we have time on our side. This will ensure we have a supply of refurbished food and beverage cans in stock to keep food distribution flowing. It would be a simple safeguard to our food supplies. It may also help prevent any possibility of a black market if a shortage of canned food did occur.

A major part of Reusa-Cans UK profits will go for ‘UK local good causes; not into shareholders pockets. The public and good causes should not be penalised by government cuts of revenue to local authorities for receiving this money. Public support is essential, sign our petition and tell a friend.

Support Reusa-Can by clicking here and signing our petition and tell a freind, it deserves to get a grant for research and development. It will benefit everyone throughout the world.

Oil will not last forever, for those who think it will we offer these extracts from:

(Life after the oil crash)

In 1982, the US State Department released its own report, which stated: . . . world petroleum production will peak in the 1990-2010 interval at 80-105 million barrels per day, with ultimate resources estimated at 2,100 billion barrels.

Also for what it is worth, Bush's Crawford ranch has been completely off-the-grid since 2002. The ranch is equipped with the latest in energy saving and renewable power systems. It has been described as an “environmentalist's dream home”. The fact a man as steeped in the petroleum industry as Bush, would own such a home should tell you something.

A book worth reading is ‘The Long Emergency’ by James Howard Kunstler. He claimed that Wal-Mart would have problems in a few years time. On the 7th July 2009 this report from America (Walmart report) was published. He also predicted many other things that are now happening.

James Kunstler wrote his book in 2004. So if any politician says, “no one could have forecast this” tell them they are wrong; someone already has.

The BBC’s Horizon programme ‘A Farm for the Future’ narrated by Rebecca Hosking gives an insight of what will probably happen in future. Resources will not last forever and we are in for a rough time. The BBC also wrote a report warning of potential oil shortages in 2004 (BBC Oil Running Out).

Two politicians, Helen Goodman MP and Sammy Wilson MP DUP have offered help having seen Reusa-Can first hand. We wish to record our thanks to them. Neither was our constituency MP so we are especially grateful. They demonstrate their true belief in green issues and are prepared to take action. To those MP’s who were not aware of Reusa-Can until now, we hope you familiarise yourself with this report. The public have been losing £billions over the last four years and we could have a world market worth over £300billion over the next twenty years.

Sign our petition and tell a friend!!

Reusa-Can - the ultimate in Recycling

Reusa-Can - Refused a grant

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