Global Market Strategy Manager - Surface Technologies, Metals business
Metal cans, including aluminium and steel, provide a proven sustainable alternative to plastic packaging. Aluminium beverage cans, for instance, are the most widely recycled packaging in the world. In the US, we recycle around 56 percent of aluminium cans – the equivalent of 5 million every hour - and 71 percent of our steel cans(1).
Brazil, meanwhile, holds the record for aluminium with a 98.4 percent recycling rate(2). The EU follows strongly with a 76.1 percent recycling rate reported by industry associations European Aluminium and Metal Packaging Europe.
How can we collectively contribute towards increasing those recycling levels and the circular economy?
How can we work together to ensure every can counts and contribute towards a recycling revolution?
Research from the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) shows that metal cans are the circular, sustainable packaging choice. Cans offer high levels of recycling and economic value to help companies meet their sustainability goals. Both aluminium and steel are infinitely recyclable(3).
Aluminium, for instance, is lightweight and strong, containing an estimated 73 percent recycled content (triple that of a glass or plastic bottle according to the Aluminium Association). Making a beverage can from recycled aluminium reduces energy and carbon emissions by over 90 percent compared to using new aluminium. In contrast, plastic degrades in reprocessing and can rarely be recycled more than once.
Aluminium cans contain 73 percent recycled content, almost triple that of glass and plastic bottles according to the Aluminium Association.
Metal offers a high economic value in the circular economy, offering a revenue source of $100 per ton for steel and around $1000 per ton for aluminium. If the can industry achieves its goal of recycling every aluminium can, it would add $800 million of economic value to the circular economy. Initiatives are in place to increase the rate of aluminium can recycling, including:
Ball's Aluminum CupTM
Launching its own recycling revolution, Ball's innovative Aluminum CupTM is specifically designed to reduce the impact of single-use plastic cups with a more sustainable alternative. Once recycled, the aluminium contained in the cup can be brought back to market as a new can or cup within just 60 days.
Grants to MRFs (material recovery facilities)
From 2021, CMI, in collaboration with Crown Holdings and Ardagh Group, will be offering grants to MRFs (material recovery facilities) to promote recycling and sustainability packaging solutions(4).
Funding is intended to enable manufacturers of aluminium beverage cans to invest in aluminium can capture equipment. This initiative will help to reduce the numbers of mis-sorted cans (currently around 25 percent). The capturing of mis-sorted cans is good news for the environment in terms of reducing carbon emissions from higher levels of recycling, and for MRFs in terms of increasing revenue.
The grants are expected to encourage more MRFs to invest in additional aluminium can capture equipment.
At Henkel, our goal is to make every can count.
We are committed to purposeful growth with sustainability, and to ensuring the new technologies and solutions used in our products align with that commitment.
Whether aluminium cans or tinplate, Henkel aims to increase process efficiency while improving health and safety and reducing environmental impact, through product solutions that:
- Increase can production rates
- Reduce scrap and minimise machine downtime
- Enable the more efficient use of materials in the production process and drive efficiency throughout the process
- Offer fully biodegradable cleaners
As the Global Market Strategy Manager for the Surface Technologies segment of the Metals business, Emily is responsible for developing global business and product development strategies based on trends and innovations in the industry, such as the drive for more recyclable and sustainable products and more efficient production processes. With a background in chemical engineering and almost 20 years of experience in the industry, she offers a wealth of product expertise to both internal stakeholders and external customers.
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