Crown establishes regionally-adjusted recycling strategy for aluminum beverage cans

14 Feb 2022 --- Crown is working with industry partners to achieve new global recycling targets for aluminum beverage cans by 2030. The beverage can leader is highlighting metal’s “inherent recyclability” while enhancing its environmental responsibility efforts. 

The new targets are connected to individual regions, with specific recycling goals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

The new targets are connected to individual regions where Crown maintains operations and include:

• In the Americas:
  • The US: Lifting the current 45% average to achieve ambitious milestones of 70% by 2030, 80% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.
  • Mexico: Maintaining >90% through 2030 and working with industry partners to establish country-wide recycling rates.
  • Brazil: Maintaining >97% through 2030.
• In Europe, the Middle East and Africa: Reaching 80% in the countries in which Crown operates by working with industry partners. 
• In Asia Pacific: Establishing country-wide 2030 recycling rates in the three major markets in which Crown operates (Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam) by the end of 2025.

Crown claims that aluminum cans are the only beverage packaging format capable of a 60-day turnaround from point of consumption to appearing back on the shelf.

Metal is an infinitely recyclable, permanent material that never loses its properties, helping to minimize resource consumption and waste.

Action on recycling
To raise recycling rates for aluminum cans, Crown will work in tandem with industry partners to support improvements to public and private recycling access, encourage consumer education on the importance of recycling used beverage cans (UBCs), help fund can capture technologies to improve recycling center sorting processes and support “impactful” recycling policies. Crown says aluminum cans are the only beverage packaging format capable of a 60-day recycling turnaround.

While set and spearheaded by Crown, the new recycling targets will require widespread action and support, including meaningful contributions from consumers, manufacturers, industry associations and advocacy groups and beverage brands. Consumer packaged goods in particular will help create greater traction with the public’s recycling practices, due to their close connections and interactions with consumers worldwide.

To date, the company says it has already made “significant strides” in these areas, including helping to fund five grants awarded to facilities in the US – a contribution that will result in an additional 71 million UBCs being recycled annually.

Ben Jordan, senior director sustainability at Coca-Cola, stresses the importance of beverage cans for the industry: “Today, metal’s attributes continue to help protect the classic image, flavors and experience consumers expect when they reach for a Coke. We welcome the announcement and are proud to support Crown's ambitious new recycling rate goals, which can help to promote effective recycling and a more responsible supply chain.”

Metal in the news
According to European Aluminum and Metal Packaging Europe, a record 36.5 billion aluminum beverage cans were recycled in the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland in 2019.

Last year, Crown joined forces with Velox to provide beverage brands with game-changing digital decoration technology for straight wall and necked aluminum cans.

Meanwhile, the Association for European Producers of Steel for Packaging recently released a report on the environmental sustainability benefits of steel packaging and how to boost recycling rates throughout the EU as part of the bloc’s European Green Deal.

Edited

By Natalie Schwertheim

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