APEAL pinpoints quality control and closure collection in steel recycling vision 2025

The Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL) has shared the four pillars of its 2025 vision for recycling: 

• Optimizing separate waste collection.
• Establishing a scrap quality standard.
• Collecting and sorting steel closures.
• Designing for recyclability. 

APEAL identifies these four key areas as “critical” drivers to prevent steel packaging being diverted from recycling streams and wasted.

“Ultimately, steel packaging is a valuable resource, which cannot be wasted if we are to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal,” says Alexis Van Maercke, APEAL secretary-general. 

Quality standard roadmap
Separate collection is “the best way” of guaranteeing high-quality input in recycling and “encouraging” to see highlighted in the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), APEAL says.

The European Parliament (EP) recently voted in favor of the CEAP, demonstrating support for permanent materials that can be infinitely recycled without loss of quality. 

Van Maercke welcomes the CEAP: “Permanent materials that retain their inherent properties after recycling will enable Europe to keep valuable resources in an endless material loop of new products and packaging.”

The collection of steel closures falls below the average 82.5% overall steel packaging recycling rate (Credit: APEAL).Next, establishing a scrap quality standard is equally important to separate collection optimization. 

“Crucially, to maintain quality in the steel for packaging scrap value chain, quality control must start when the material is at the sorting facility. This can only be achieved by establishing a quality standard for packaging steel scrap,” Van Maerke explains.

Steel closures recycling education
An average of 82.5 percent of all steel packaging is currently recycled across Europe. However, the association highlights the collection and sorting of steel closures in Europe are estimated to be below average.

Europeans regularly put steel closures in the wrong waste bin, and often in the residual waste bin, due to a lack of clear sorting instructions and low awareness among residents, according to APEAL.

In similar metal packaging research, an Every Can Counts survey from last year revealed 94 percent of Europeans agreed companies should use infinitely recyclable packaging. However, only 55 percent were aware that aluminum is infinitely recyclable.

Meanwhile, ineffective sorting techniques in several facilities is resulting in collected steel closures being lost and not recycled, Van Maercke emphasizes.

Last but not least, APEAL also believes designing for recyclability will underpin the successful implementation of all these measures, helping to ensure every product placed on the market can be recycled efficiently.

Short-term goals
APEAL spotlights its collaboration with colleagues, the European Commission, EP, Member States and stakeholders will be instrumental in achieving these four circular economy goals. 

The association has set further checkpoint projects as short-term goals. A report titled “Why Steel recycles forever – How to collect, sort & recycle steel for packaging” is set for publication in December this year. The report will help stakeholders throughout the value chain work collaboratively to achieve the 2025 vision.

Meanwhile, APEAL will reveal a new recycling rate objective in line with the new EU calculation methodology. 

Applicable for data from 2020, this new methodology moves the calculation point for all Member States and all packaging materials to the start of the recycling operation. This excludes impurities and includes only recycled materials in the measurement process.

Founded in 1986, APEAL members – ArcelorMittal, Liberty Liège-Dudelange, Tata Steel, thyssenkrupp Rasselstein and US Steel Košice – employ over 200,000 workers in Europe. 

By Anni Schleicher