Antony McAulay / Shutterstock.com Soda Cans Other Recycling Antony McAulay / Shutterstock.com Empty Before Recycling Empty soda cans before recycling them. Moisture and dirt contaminate recycling, decreasing the quality of the end product and increasing overall costs for the facility. Do Not Crush You do not need to flatten or crush beverage containers. If the processing center uses an automated reverse vending machine (RVM), keeping the containers as they are enables the machine to recognize the container type. Did You Know? The Aluminium Beverage Can Industry How Quickly Are Soda Cans Recycled? It only takes about 60 days for soda cans to make it back onto store shelves after they are recycled. How Much Energy Does Recycling Soda Cans Save? A single new soda can (made with virgin aluminum) uses the same amount of energy as twenty soda cans that are made from recycled material. Also, recycling one soda can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.