To provide an apparatus and a method for positive separation/collection of aluminum from empty cans in a state of as they are or being pressed, without disintegrating them.

A plurality of cans 13 are contained in a cage 14 made of a metal having a higher melting pint than that of aluminum. A pair of electrodes 11, 12 capable of passing a current through those empty cans hold the cans between them together with the cage. When a predetermined amount of current is passed from a power source 16 to the cans through the pair of electrodes, the empty cans are heated, and the aluminum constituting partly or wholly the cans are melted. When a driving means 17 imparts both motions of turning and rotation to the pair of electrodes, the molten aluminum is scattered centrifugally out of the cage. The scattered molten aluminum is stored in the molten state in a furnace body 18 surrounding the cage.