Aluminum can maintains position as most sustainable beverage container

A new report released today by the Aluminum Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute finds that aluminum beverage cans remain the best choice for environmentally-minded consumers.

According to the new report -- “The Aluminum Can Advantage: Key Sustainability Performance Indicators 2016” -- consumers recycle aluminum beverage cans at rates 13 – 24 points higher than glass or plastic (PET) bottles. The high value of recycled aluminum material effectively subsidizes municipal recycling programs nationwide.

“Everyday, millions of Americans enjoy beverages out of lightweight, portable and highly recyclable aluminum cans,” said Heidi Brock, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association.

“When it comes to sustainability, only one beverage container delivers unrivaled benefit—the aluminum can,” says CMI President Robert Budway.

The new study tracks a number of different sustainability “key performance indicators” for the aluminum beverage can including industry recycling rate, consumer recycling rate, recycled content, value of material and weight. Taken together, these indicators provide a holistic view of the sustainability performance of the can as a guide for consumers, customers, non-governmental organizations, policymakers and other stakeholders across the value chain. Key findings in the 2016 report include:

• The aluminum industry recycling rate, which measures the amount of used aluminum can scrap, including imported and exported cans, that get recycled as a percentage of U.S. shipments was 64.3 percent in 2015, a slight decline from 2014 but above the ten-year average of 60.4 percent. This reflects nearly 57 billion cans recycled.
• The consumer recycling rate for aluminum cans, which measures domestic consumer recycling behavior, was 54.5 percent in 2015, a 2-point drop year-over-year but higher than the 10-year average rate of 51.7 percent.
• Aluminum cans contain more than 3X the recycled content of glass or plastic, with 70 percent recycled content on average. This compares to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated 23 percent recycled content for glass and 3 percent recycled content for plastic bottles.
• The study shows aluminum can scrap is worth $1,367 per ton versus $310 per ton for plastic and $0 per ton for glass. The high value of material for aluminum helps make municipal recycling programs financially viable and effectively subsidizes the recycling of less valuable materials in the bin.
• The weight of the average aluminum can has declined more than 38 percent since 1972 to 12.97 grams today. A standard 12-oz glass bottle is about 15X heavier than an aluminum can.

Since lows reported in the early 2000s, both the industry and consumer recycling rate for the aluminum beverage can have risen around 10 to 15 points and held near these levels for the past five years.

“While we saw a slight drop in aluminum can recycling in 2015 amid a decline in scrap prices, we’re pleased with the general trend line toward increased recycling over the past decade,” said Heidi Brock. “The Aluminum Association remains committed to doing what it can – in partnership with our membership – to recover and recycle as much aluminum as possible.”

Each year in the United States nearly 40 billion cans – about $800 million worth of aluminum – end up landfills, a significant loss to the economy and the environment. The energy saved by recycling 100 percent of aluminum cans in the U.S. could power 4 million homes for a full year. The Aluminum Association supports efforts to increase recycling by advocating for smart municipal recycling policies and through public education on can recycling.

Across all sectors of the industry, the recovery and recycling of aluminum is on the rise. The industry today collects about 11.6 billion pounds of aluminum each year for recycling – more than twice the amount collected in the 1980s and nearly 20 percent more than averages in the early 2000s. At the same time, more than 70 percent of U.S. aluminum production today is in producing secondary, or recycled, metal.