What is the purpose of this?

Question

Sometimes when I go to a bar or someplace that serves soda or beer in a can, when you are done they pull the tab off and save them. What are they saving them for?

Answer 1

I think it's because the tab of the can is pure [or mostly] aluminum. My school is planning to collect can tabs to help a cause, and the environment. I don't know if that's what the bars are doing, but that could be it.  

Answer 2

That is how they keep inventory.  If they sold 70 cans of soda or beer they should have 70 tabs and that much in the till.

Answer 3

The bars my husband used to go to collected them for a kidney transplant foundation.  Any place that collects tabs has already chosen a charity for the money to go to.  

Answer 4

Some charity groups collect them and recycle them for whatever cause they are supporting. I've never seen it happen in a commercial environment so that I don't know. Maybe for inventory if it's a mobile vendor (ball game or concert) or perhaps for safety reasons - to keep people from pulling them off and dropping them in the can and swallowing them?