Recycling Rate Sources: Aluminum Association + Report prepared by RRS for CMI
Metal cans are unique in that recycling them has a significant environmental and economic impact that occurs today at mass quantities and that impact can happen over and over again because metal recycles forever.
Sustainability Advantages of Aluminum Beverage Cans
Textbook Example of the Circular Economy
The circular economy focuses on how to eliminate waste and keep resources in circulation as long as possible. The aluminum can exemplifies the circular economy because most all recycled aluminum cans turn into new cans, and the can is recycled at scale with existing infrastructure and technology. The aluminum in cans has the ability to keep circulating forever since aluminum can be recycled infinitely. This is how around 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in circulation. See Key Sustainability Facts of the Aluminum Can.
Significant Environmental Impact from Recycling
Making a beverage can from recycled aluminum reduces energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent compared to using new aluminum. There’s also greenhouse gas savings with cans during transportation and cooling. On a per container basis, emissions associated with a 12-oz can are 45 percent lower than a 12-oz glass bottle and 49 percent lower than a 20-oz plastic bottle when delivered and chilled in small markets and convenience stores.
Significant Economic Impact from Recycling
Aluminum beverage cans are typically the most valuable material in the single stream recycling system. This is central to the recent finding that most material recovery facilities (MRF) in the United States that separate single stream recycling would not be able to operate without the revenue from used beverage cans (UBCs). In fact, a third of the revenue for a typical MRF in a non-deposit state comes from UBCs. In total, the nearly 46.7 billion cans recycled in 2020 were worth close to $700 million for MRFs.
Highest Recycling Rate of Beverage Containers
The aluminum can industry’s recycling rate is 43 percent, more than plastic PET bottles (20%) and glass bottles (40%). This means that of all the cans produced and filled with your favorite beverage in a single year, nearly half of them were melted down for recycling. The aluminum beverage can industry expects to have more cans recycled in the coming years as it executes on its roadmap to achieve its ambitious recycling rate targets.
Highest Recycled Content of all Beverage Containers
The average beverage can that a U.S. consumer is holding contains 71 percent recycled content. Plastic (PET) and glass bottles are way behind in average recycled content at 6 percent and 23 percent, respectively. In fact, simply to have the material available for PET bottles to reach just 25 percent recycled content would require every American to recycle an additional 100 plastic PET bottles each year.
On top of these sustainability advantages, beverage cans provide other benefits including fast chilling, 360-degree marketing, locking in quality since the product is shielded from light and oxygen, and efficient packing for transportation. Learn more about the aluminum can’s numerous advantages in taste, innovation, sustainability and performance in here.
Highest Circular Performace and Potential of U.S. Beverage Packages
A report assessing three U.S. beverage packaging types – aluminum cans, glass bottles and plastic PET bottles – finds aluminum cans have the highest circular performance and potential. The analysis, Recycling Unpacked: Assessing the Circular Potential of Beverage Containers in the United States, published by Metabolic as part of a study commissioned by the CMI, examines the role of a circular economy in creating clean, stable material streams that can displace primary resource production as they are recycled and repurposed.
Environmentally Friendly
Beverage Cans: Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy needed for primary aluminum production.
Food Cans: Making a food can from recycled steel means 78 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and energy use compared to using virgin steel.
Economic Impact
Aluminum and steel generate revenue for recyclers, with aluminum beverage cans typically the most valuable material in the residential recycling stream. Looking at metal recycling generally, it has a greater economic impact and supports more American jobs than the recycling of all the other commodities combined.
Mass Quantities
The beverage can’s existing circular system recycles nearly 46 billion cans each year in the United States. That is the equivalent of 11, 12-packs per person and more than 5.4 million cans each hour. This scale and the fact that most recycled cans get turned into new cans is how the average aluminum beverage can in the United States has 71 percent recycled content. Further, these recycled cans go from recycling bin to new cans in less than 60 days on average. Steel food cans are also recycled at scale with a 44 percent recycling rate. The aluminum beverage can industry expects to have more cans recycled in the coming years as it executes on its roadmap to achieve its ambitious recycling rate targets.
Metal Recycles Forever
Aluminum and steel maintain their structural integrity during the recycling process and can be recycled infinitely. In contrast, the plastic in flexible pouches is rarely accepted in residential U.S. recycling programs, and plastic (PET) bottles can be recycled a maximum of 10 times with a third of the material lost in the recycling process. The can industry is committed to building on its leading recycling rates to generate additional environmental and economic impact.
Since metal recycles forever, around 75 percent of all aluminum and steel ever produced is still in circulation. In other words, it is possible that the aluminum and steel in your beverage or food can date back to the 1800s and has been used many times.
By recycling your can, you keep in circulation the metal that can be infinitely recycled so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill and is able to be recycled multiple times. You and each stakeholder in the can’s circular journey need to do your part to keep the can flowing through its existing circular system that takes it from recycling bin to new can in as less than 60 days on average.
The Metal Recycles Forever logo on cans inspires and informs consumers because it emphasizes the transformational nature of the material, which leads to higher recycling rates. Learn more about:
- The benefits of the metal recycles forever logo.
- Step-by-step instructions on how to apply for use of the metal recycles forever logo on rigid metal packaging.
- Applying and for more information, go to the metal recycles forever logo website.
Please contact us at info@cancentral.com if you have any questions.
Sustainability Advantages of Steel Food Cans
Highest Recycling Rate of all Food Packaging
The recycling rate for steel food cans is 44 percent. This is significantly higher than alternative food packaging including cartons (20%), food glass containers (15%), PET thermoforms (14%), and flexibles (2%). In the United States, over 13,500 steel food cans are recycled every minute and 7.1 billion steel food cans are recycled every year. The steel food can’s high recycling rate is in part attributable to the ease of separating out the magnetic steel food cans from the rest of the single stream recyclables via magnets.
Steel can easily be recycled into new cans or other readily recyclable steel products
Steel in food cans can easily be melted into new steel food cans or incorporated into other products such as bridges and cars. Steel food cans have recycled content of up to 30 percent with technology currently used to make steel tinplate.
Significant Environmental Impact From Recycling
Food can production with recycled steel entails 75 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than making food cans with virgin steel. The climate impact of steel food can production has gone down over time. Steel cans have reduced their environmental impact by 32 percent from 2000 to 2013.
This reduction is attributed to three factors:
- Higher recycling rates
- Increased amounts of green energy used for packaging manufacturing
- Continuous improvement via lightweighting. The lightweighting of steel food cans has been dramatic with a 40 percent decline over a recent 30-year timespan
Prevent Food Waste by Maintaining Quality for Years Without a Cold Chain
Commercially canned food retains quality and taste for between two to five years, all without a cold chain, meaning significant energy savings. Canned food uses 20 percent less energy than refrigerated food and 51 percent less energy than frozen food. Canned food also maintains its high quality over time without any preservatives. The high heat process and airtight seal lock in the product’s quality while locking out germs, air, light and other elements that degrade product quality. And, many recipes call for the can’s entire content to be used at once, thereby avoiding potential food waste. To give one example of the difference with metal cans, consumers waste only around 16 percent of tomatoes and spinach in cans, while 30 to 40 percent of fresh tomatoes and spinach are thrown out.
The reduction in food waste that comes from using food cans adds up. A University of Delaware graduate student research study found that food cans alone save in excess of 1 billion liters of food every year, when compared to food packaged for refrigeration or freezing. If more produce was put in cans, then there would be even less food wasted, resulting in a significant environmental impact. In fact, if the entire U.S. fruit and vegetable supply were canned, rather than packed for refrigeration or freezing, the estimated savings would be~22 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). To put this into perspective, a typical car produces approximately 4.6 metric tons of CO2 per year, so it would be similar to removing over 4.7 million cars from the roads.
Keep Food Safe
There has not been a single reported incident of foodborne illness from the failure of metal packaging in more than 40 years.
Provide Nutrition
There are more than 1,500 varieties of canned food available year-round, providing easy access to a world of ingredients anytime. Kids and adults who use six or more canned foods per week are more likely to have diets higher in 17 essential nutrients.
