A tin cylinder is an air-tight metal container that’s used to store food. Today, most tin cans are made with aluminum and other types of processed metals rather than pure tin. Pure tin is very hard to work with, and its availability is limited; experts have pinpointed the date when tin mines will be exhausted. Therefore, most tin cans are made from tin-plated steel, which is mostly iron or aluminium with 1 to 2 percent tin.

Tin-plate is cheaper than tin and also offers the same resistance to corrosion. The most important advantage of tin-plate over pure tin is its malleability, which makes it much easier to form into the shapes needed for cans. The tin-coating protects the metal from acidic foods, which could otherwise cause it to corrode.

Cans were first introduced in the United States in 1868, when a man named John Norton opened several plants that produced tin-coated steel containers for the storage of preserved foods. These cans were double seamed, which created an airtight seal. This allowed them to be produced at high speeds, making canned foods more available than ever before.

Modern cans are mainly made of aluminium, which is less expensive and lighter than tin. They’re also very strong, which is an advantage for shipping and storage. They’re recyclable, too, but they must be flattened before collection by curbside collectors. This helps them to fit more cans into a truckload, which is cheaper for the collector and the detinning plant.