How aluminum cans are made
A soda can is squeezed out of a flat disc, and its walls end up about as thin as a sheet of paper.
- stations
- 6
- things upstream
- 47
- raw sources
- 17
- steps from the ground
- 8
The short version
An aluminum drink can begins as a punched disc of stiff sheet aluminum. A press forms the disc into a short cup, and then rams push the cup through a series of rings that stretch and thin the sides. The body is trimmed, washed, printed, lined and necked in before a lid is seamed on.
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Punch out discs
A press blanks flat circles from a coil of stiff aluminum alloy that contains about 1 percent each of manganese and magnesium for strength.
Goes in -
Cup the disc
The first draw turns the flat blank into a shallow cup about three inches across.
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Iron the walls
A ram pushes the cup through a series of tight rings. Each ring stretches the wall taller and thinner, and the bottom is domed in the same stroke. The side ends up thinner than the top and bottom, where stiffness is needed.
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Trim and wash
The ragged top edge is cut off straight, and the can is washed clean of lubricant.
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Print the label
A rotating printer rolls the design around the can in a single pass.
Goes in -
Line and neck in
A plastic liner is sprayed inside to keep the drink from touching the metal. The top is then narrowed to make room for a smaller lid.
Goes in
Worth repeating
- Beer first went on sale in cans in 1935, in Richmond, Virginia.
- Coors introduced the recyclable aluminum can in 1959.
- Aluminum makes up 75% of the world's drink can production.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and aluminum can starts as these 17 raw sources.
Everything it is made of See it on the map
Open the whole family tree
Where it goes next
Aluminum can feeds 12 lines directly.
Keep walking
Sources
Cite this page: "How aluminum cans are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/aluminum-can