Cans of tinplated steel, both those that are permanently sealed and those with tops that can be lifted and replaced, are used predominantly for food storage. 90% of all tinplate is used to make cans for food and drinks, cosmetics, fuel, oil, and paint and varnish. Tin is resistant to corrosion and has low toxicity.

• Tin is also used in metals used for bearings and in solder. Tin is used in glass production, bearing alloys, coatings for steel containers, solders for connecting pipes or electrical/electronic circuits, and other tin chemical use.
• Tin, found in cassiterite, is used in mobile phone circuit boards. Tin is used in smartphones for soldering different metal components together. Tin is also used with the element indium to make indium tin oxide, a very thin, transparent and electrically conductive material used to make smartphone touchscreens.
• The iPhone's screen is much more complex. The aluminosilicate glass is bombarded with ions of potassium for strength. Meanwhile, a layer of indium tin oxide makes it touchscreen capable, and small amounts of rare earths enables certain colors on the display.
• Tin is used as solder in the electronics industry. Tin alloys can also be found in automobile parts, dental amalgams, and aerospace metal. Even nuclear reactors can contain a small amount of tin.

Tin cans used to preserve food were patented in England in 1810 when Peter Durand, a British merchant, was granted a patent by King George III. But the concept really took hold in the USA in 1856 when Bordon’s Condensed Milk began production. America’s increasingly mobile population adopted canned food with a fury.