Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can’s volume of gasoline.what does that mean?Aluminum cans are made of energy so there is as much energy in the can as in half a can of gasoline.There are two actions going on here. Throwing away a can and pouring out gasoline. Both are examples of wasting energy and the writer was trying to put a visual to the comparison. Since cans come in various sizes, the amount of energy is relative to the size of the can. For example, throwing out a 12 oz can is the same as pouring out 6 oz of gas.Since aluminum is melted down recycle it is easier to melt down cans as we know.To extract the aluminum from the earth takes more to process there for volume of gas cost more;Recycling aluminum saves the need from extracting new aluminum from ore, and saves the energy needed for that process.Other related question