Extracting and separating aluminum from aluminum cans: soda cans / pop cans

[Genecks]

Hello,

 

Something I've regained an interest in as of late is the extraction of aluminium from pop cans.

 

Typically this has been a desirable thing for the avid soda can collector. However, generally, such an individual brings the pop cans to a recycling center.

What I'm curious about is whether or not various chemical methods have been undertaken in order to separate the aluminum from the soda cans.

A kitchen chemistry kind of way that is not too expensive, perhaps catalytic, and the materials used can be retrieved with decent yield with a lost cost.

Furthermore, there would be the need for the aluminum to separate out (perhaps precipitate to the bototm), for easy collection.

If not kitchen chemistry, perhaps some kind of apparatus a person could develop in a home garage.

 

Is this possible?

 

If it is not possible yet, what would be the consequences for such a process to be developed?

If an individual developed the process without publishing or letting out such knowledge, could it be assumed that such an individual could be quickly rich by collecting bauxite and/or various objects with aluminum in them?

 

I've been looking at the process of extracting the aluminum, and it appears that a large, large amount of heat is often used to re-obtain the aluminum. I'm starting to think of this as very unnecessary. Why cannot a variety of catalysts and organic techniques be used? Surely there is a way to make organoaluminum compounds and break those down to release aluminum, right?

Edited November 9, 2011 by Genecks