America's
Most Recycled
Package 

Has Been Right in
Front of You All Along

Learn More About the Many Benefits of Aluminum &
Steel Cans

Click the Play Button Below

- Section One -

Cans are the Most
Recycled Food and
Beverage Package in the
United States

Minimizing landfill waste

Which packages actually get recycled?

Steel food can 66.8%    
Aluminum beverage can 58.1%    
Glass 31.1%    
PET 28.6%    
Aseptic cartons 6.5%    
Flexible packaging 0%    
  0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Recycled
Non-Recycled

Cans are endlessly recyclable, which means that steel and aluminum are recycled again and again without loss of strength or quality.

Cans are back on store shelves in as little as 60 days.

- Section Two -

Cans are produced with abundant and recycled materials

Minimizing natural resource depletion

The can is the packaging option that best minimizes resource depletion.

Here's why:

  1. Cans have high recycled content - more than other food and beverage packages.
  2. The virgin materials that go into a can - aluminum or iron - are the third and fourth most abundant elements on Earth.

Metal: A permanant resource for
current and future generations.

Metal has many applications
Metal packaging contributes to society and every-day life.
Ore supplies are abundant, and once extracted, are permanantly available and endlessly recyclable.

Recycled content

Cans contain more recycled content than any other food and beverage package - more than twice as much in the case of the aluminum can.

  • Because cans are endlessly recyclable, they provide continuous feedstock for new cans.
  • Nearly 75% of all aluminum that's ever been produced is still in use.
  • 80-90% of all steel ever produced is still in use.

Recycled content:

68%
25-35%
23%
3.5%
0%
N/A%

In the case of a beverage can, it can be recycled and back on a store shelf in just 60 days!

60 days
60 days

- Section Three -

Cans Save Energy

Reducing pollution and carbon emissions

Recycled content

Being endlessly recyclable doesn't just cut down on landfill space and the need for raw materials. Each can that is recycled greatly reduces the energy and therefore the carbon footprint of the next. That's because it takes far less energy to produce the aluminum and steel for a can when using recycled material.

Energy Savings:
1 "Lifecycle Analysis of Aluminum Beverage Cans," Prepared May 21, 2010 for Aluminum Association.
2 "Facts About Steel Recycling," Steel Recycling Institute. 2010.

Every can recycled saves energy

1 recycled steel can saves the equivalent of 1 hour of television or 1 load of laundry

Every can recycled saves energy

1 recycled aluminum can saves the equivalent of 3 hours of television or 4 hours of a 100 watt light bulb
Source: "Facts About Aluminum Recycling." Earth911.org. 2011.

- Section Four -

Cans ensure
Safe, Nutritious
food an beverages

Providing the highest degree of product quality

Best protection for food and beverages

Food and beverages packed in cans are protected by the most robust package available.

  • The durable metal exterior, combined with an airtight seal, locks in the product's quality, while locking out germs, air, light and other elements that degrade product quality and threaten consumer health.
  • It's the most tamper-resistant and tamper-evident package on the market.

Best protection against food-borne illnesses

CDC Center for Disease Control and PreventionAccording to the CDC, 48 million Americans fall ill and 3,000 die every year from food-borne diseases.1

The durable structure and air-tight seal on cans offers the most robust protection against food-borne illnesses.

Furthermore, the canning process itself kills off bacteria and other harmful agents, ensuring safe and nutritious food for the consumer.

1 “Estimates of Foodborne Illness in the United States.” www.cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2011.

Farm-fresh quality long after the harvest

Canned food is picked at the peak of ripeness and immediately canned, locking in its flavor and nutrition. No other package offers better protection of product quality.

Cans ensure farm-fresh taste and nutrition long after the product was harvested.

There are myths that canned food contains preservatives and that its nutritional value is degraded. The fact is, most canned food is packed in just water or another liquid, with other ingredients sometimes added for flavor. And studies have shown that fresh, frozen and canned foods have about the same nutritional value at the time of consumption.1

1 "Nutritional Comparison of Fresh, Frozen and Canned Fruits and
Vegetables." Joy C. Rickman, Diane M. Barrett, PhD, Christine M. Bruhn, PhD.

Better for the beer. Better for the Earth.

Cans also offer better protection of beverage quality.

Take beer for example. Its two greatest enemies are air and light and cans offer complete protection against both. It's not surprising that a canned revolution is underway in the craft beer market, with more than 300 craft beers now available in cans.

There is no dispute that only cans provide complete protection of beverage quality. And due to the can's protective coating, the beer or other beverage maintains its true taste.

Craftcans.com explains:

  • Cans actually lock in the flavor of beer ... No light penetrates the cans and the seal is tighter ... Thus, your beer tastes fresher longer.
  • Cans are more environmentally friendly. They are easier to recycle and require less packaging.
  • Cans are less expensive for the brewery and distributor to ship.

- Section Five -

Cans minimize
spoilage and
product waste

Reducing food waste benefits consumers & society

Food waste: A problem for consumers,
producers, retailers and society

Nearly half of all food grown in the U.S. goes to waste.

According to a study by the University of Arizona, funded in part by the USDA, 40-50% of all harvestable food in the U.S. is dicarded.1

Food waste also poses significant environmental problems. According to the EPA, food waste is now the single largest component of the landfill stream – a staggering 34 million tons of food is wasted each year.2

1 Timothy Jones, PhD, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona, 2004.
2 "Basic Information About Food Waste." www.epa.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2011.

Solution: Cans

Cans help minimize food waste by providing the longest shelf life of any package.

Food packed in cans is protected from air, germs and other factors that cause it to spoil.

Less spoilage = less waste.

- Section Six -

Cans are
economically
efficient

Saving money for producers, retailers & consumers

Economical to ship and store

Shipping efficiencies

The can's light weight and cubic efficiency allows more product to be shipped using less fuel, when compared with other packages such as glass.

Energy savings

Product packaged in cans requires no refrigeration or freezing, saving money through warehousing, shipping and retailing.

Less food and beverage waste =
Less money waste

"...[S]ince we now throw away more food than anything else, that means we are throwing away a lot of our money. Often, simple changes in food purchasing, storage and preparation practices can yield significant reductions in food waste generation." — U.S. EPA1

Food waste costs the U.S. economy more than $1 billion each year.1

The average family of four throws away nearly $600 annually in food waste.2

Cans help minimize food and beverage waste by providing the longest shelf life of any package. That means more profit for producers and retailers, and more money in the pockets of consumers.

1 Timothy Jones, PhD, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona, 2004.
2 "Basic Information About Food Waste." www.epa.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2011.