Stealing the sustainability show: Steel packaging trumps the alternatives, says thyssenkrupp

21 Jan 2019 --- Steel packaging is outperforming alternatives materials in the drive for more sustainable solutions. That is according to new research commissioned by steel packaging specialists, thyssenkrupp. The research found that a 0.5-liter beverage can made from tinplate is 91 percent recyclable, while European steel packaging recycling rates are relatively high and still increasing.

Since it became widely known that plastic residue can find its way into the food chain in the form of so-called microplastics, media and public anti-plastic sentiment has been on the rise. The packaging industry generally agrees that improved global recycling infrastructure for plastics is urgently needed.

For other materials, effective recycling streams have been established for a long time. According to thyssenkrupp, steel packaging has been at the forefront of recycling for years, even compared to glass, aluminum or cardboard.

Steel packaging reached a new high in 2016 with a recycling rate of 79.5 percent in Europe (EU plus Norway and Switzerland), an increase of 2 percent from the previous year, according to the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL).

Steel beverage cans, in particular, are experiencing growth due to their popularity among young adults and teenagers, as well as their ability to offer convenience. Cans can be opened easily and ensure a long shelf-life. They are also practical in handling, easy to stack, durable and low in weight.

Energy-saving, highly recyclable and resource-efficient
According to research carried out by cyclos HTP on behalf of thyssenkrupp, a 0.5-liter beverage can made from tinplate is 91 percent recyclable. A number of other features, developments and achievements ensure that packaging steel is at the forefront of sustainability.

“Due to its magnetic characteristics, packaging steel is the easiest and most economical collectible and recyclable material,” Carmen Tschage, Head of Communications and Market Development, thyssenkrupp, tells PackagingInsights. “Steel scrap is always needed for the production of new steel. Each newly manufactured steel product thus contains an increasing proportion of recycled steel. Packaging steel is recycled in established and well-organized material cycles. All these aspects are why steel packaging has higher recycling rates then alternative packaging materials.”

"Steel can be used for a wide range of applications, from beverage cans to crown corks and party kegs," Tschage notes.Steel packaging has been outperforming other materials for years, according to thyssenkrupp. In the UK for example, 76.4 percent of steel packaging was recycled in 2016, according to APEAL.

The objective in the steel packaging value chain is to establish a closed material loop worldwide, which has already been achieved in Germany and many other European countries to a large extent. This is dependent on the development of functional links within the value chain which close any gaps and ensure that as little material as possible leaves the cycle.

To this end, Tschage explains that thyssenkrupp works constantly to improve its production processes and products to enable improved material recycling.

“By continuously developing our steel grades and optimizing our product processes, we are able to offer steel grades with thinner thicknesses but with the same material properties than before. One example is our innovative steel ‘rasselstein Solidflex.’” 

Since 1985, the weight of the two-part standard 0.33-liter beverage can has been reduced by more than a third to just 22 grams. The savings in three-piece food cans are even greater: reducing the wall thickness to a fraction of a millimeter since the 1970s has halved cans’ weight, making them significantly more material-efficient.

Another sustainability benefit of steel cans is their excellent capacity to preserve food and beverages. Today, it is hard to imagine just how difficult it once was for humans to store perishable foods like meat or fish for a prolonged time. Even though we may have lost sight of this achievement due to the quick passage of time, thyssenkrupp highlights that a higher share of tinplate-packaging in food consumption means less food is wasted due to spoilage. Incidentally, this also applies to beverage cans, which can be stored for longer, for example in vending machines.

With new additions to the rasselstein brand, such as Solidflex, High Formability, or Ultra-Low-Earing steel, thyssenkrupp believes it is at the forefront of a development that enables steel packaging with very specific properties to be configured exactly to each customer’s requirements.Steel beverage cans are experiencing growth among young adults and teenagers due to their sustainability credentials and convenience.

ThyssenKrupp can provide its customers with more than 6,000 specifications. Its portfolio includes maximum strength packaging steels with high ductility; innovative, highly malleable steels for demanding can geometries; as well as extremely homogeneous and isotropic tinplates for closures and multi-stage deep-drawn, so-called DRD (drawn and redrawn) cans, which are printed in distortion.

A wide range of applications
“Steel can be used for a wide portfolio of applications: three-piece and two-piece food and pet food cans, beverage cans, crown corks, party kegs, aerosol cans and its tops and bottoms, mounting cups for aerosol cans, easy open ends, twist-off closures, tab stock, industrial packaging for paints and coatings, decorative tins and more,”  Tschage explains. 

In Germany, the new Packaging Act entered into force on January 1, 2019, requiring a recycling rate of 80 percent for tinplate. Stricter regulations apply to all packaging materials brought to market, which will also affect the steel industry.

“As a pioneer with regard to a closed-loop economy, we naturally support these regulations and consider ourselves well-positioned to address these upcoming challenges – and more – in terms of sustainability,” says Nicole Korb, Communications Officer, thyssenkrupp. 

Steel packaging with improved material properties is an area of consistent innovation, as well as steel types that reduce resource consumption with increasing efficacy. This will help steel packaging to continue to expand its role as an environmentally friendly and effective product in the future – not just as a supplement, but increasingly as an alternative to packaging materials with a higher environmental footprint.

By Joshua Poole