What Pull Tab Cans Actually Are

Most people throw aluminum pull tabs straight into the trash without thinking twice. They're small, they stick to packaging, and they seem pointless. The reality is that these little pieces of aluminum are one of the most concentrated forms of scrap metal you can find, and there's an entire infrastructure built around collecting them that most casuals don't know about. A pull tab is the ring you peel back to open a standard aluminum beverage can. The ones from soda and beer cans are made from the same alloy as the can body itself. When processed at a scrap yard, aluminum doesn't degrade through recycling the way paper or plastic does. It can be melted down and reused indefinitely without losing structural integrity. That's why the effort pays off.

History Pull Tab Cans: Why People Collect Them

The collecting movement started gaining traction in the late 1970s when groups like the Boy Scouts of America began organizing pull tab drives for charity. The rationale was simple: kids could collect tabs instead of cans, and the higher concentration of aluminum per unit meant more money raised for the same amount of physical effort. That model spread to rotary clubs, school fundraisers, and eventually specialized charities. Some organizations still use pull tab collection as a primary fundraising mechanism, particularly those focused on disability services and medical research. The historical angle is worth noting because the pull tab itself changed how aluminum recycling works. Before the early 1970s, most cans had attached ring-pull caps that would tear off and stay lodged in the lid. Then the separate pull-tab design came out, and recyclers noticed something inconvenient: those tabs would fall off during processing and get lost in the sorting streams, representing a small but measurable waste of material. That observation drove improvements in can design that eventually led to the easy-open end systems we have today.

How to Start Collecting Pull Tabs

The first thing you need to understand is that you should be collecting only the tabs themselves, not the entire can. This is the most common mistake new collectors make. The reason is economic. A single aluminum can weighs roughly 14 grams. A single pull tab weighs about 0.5 grams. When you bring a bag of whole cans to a scrap yard, you're paying for the paint, the coating, the tiny amounts of steel in the seam, and the air inside. Pull tabs are nearly pure aluminum with minimal contamination. At current scrap rates, tabs can return two to three times more per pound than whole cans.

The Sorting Process

You're going to need containers. I use repurposed plastic jugs with the tops cut off. Anything with a wide opening works. Keep them in a dry place because moisture is your enemy. Wet tabs rust faster in storage and can smell bad if left too long. Here's the actual workflow. Open your cans and remove the tab by peeling it away from the can lid. Don't try to scrape it off with a knife. Just use your thumb and nail to separate it. Toss the tab into your container. Put the can in the regular recycling bin like normal. Do this every time you open a beverage. If you're social or have a household, ask people to save their tabs for you. Most will comply if you explain it takes ten seconds. The problem I ran into after about six months of casual collecting was contamination. Someone at a fundraising event had dumped a huge bag of whole cans into the tab collection bin. Sorting through that took about forty minutes and I ended up discarding tabs that were crushed flat against can sides. The tabs themselves were fine, but the labor cost was real. My workaround is to keep two separate containers: one labeled "tabs only" and one labeled "cans." Even within my own house, this prevents cross-contamination from spreading.

Cleaning and Storage

Tabs don't need deep cleaning. A quick rinse under tap water removes most residue. The sugary soda residue and beer foam are what cause problems, not the aluminum itself. Let them dry on a towel before storing. I learned this the hard way when I compressed a batch of damp tabs into a gallon bag and left it in my garage for three weeks. When I opened it, there was a fermented sour smell and a sticky crust on half the tabs. The aluminum was still fine, but it was unpleasant to handle and the odor carried through the bag. Once dry, store tabs in sealed plastic bags or containers. For selling, I compress them. The best method I've found is placing them between two sheets of cardboard and using a hydraulic press or even a floor jack with a block of wood to compress them into dense bricks. Loose tabs take up enormous space and scrapyards prefer compacted material. A compressed brick of tabs is much easier to weigh and transport.

Where to Take Them

This is where the process gets complicated and the margins shrink. Scrap yards have different policies. Some pay by weight for all aluminum, tabs included, at the same rate as other aluminum scrap. Others have special rates for pre-sorted tab collections because they save the yard sorting labor. Call ahead and ask. The difference matters. Charity drives are another route. Organizations like the Elks Lodge and various Rotary clubs run pull tab collection programs. You drop off your compressed tabs at their designated bin and they handle the rest. The payout goes to their cause, not to you, but it's the original and still-active model. Some charities have relationships with recyclers who guarantee them a minimum price per pound. If you're collecting for personal sale, you'll need to track the current scrap price for aluminum in your area. Prices fluctuate with the commodity market. A good rule of thumb is that tab prices tend to lag behind whole can prices by a week or so because the supply chain for sorted tabs is less liquid. Checking scrapyard price boards online or calling local yards weekly will keep you informed.

What Doesn't Work

Don't collect tabs from non-aluminum sources. Steel pop tabs exist on food cans and some soup cans, but they're ferrous metal and priced differently at scrap yards. The magnetic test is quick: if a magnet sticks, it's not aluminum. Also don't bother with pull-tabs from craft beers or energy drinks that use different materials. Some premium cans use steel lids or hybrid designs. Stick to standard aluminum soda and beer cans. Another dead end is trying to sell tabs through online marketplaces to individual buyers. The volume required to make shipping costs worthwhile is enormous, and most individuals buying "scrap tabs" are running scams. Scrap yards and charity programs are the only reliable endpoints. The weight threshold matters too. A single bag of household tabs collected over a year might come to five or ten pounds. That's maybe fifteen to twenty dollars at current rates. The collection phase is low-effort but high-volume. If you want significant returns, you need to engage other collectors or set up a household system where multiple people contribute. I've seen some collectors on forums share tips about partnering with local restaurants and bars to collect from their commercial waste streams. One guy I talked to at a yard said he was pulling sixty to eighty pounds a month from a single diner. That's where the real money is, if you're willing to build those relationships.