U.S.Can recycling rate hits 67 percent

The U.S. continued its decade-long upward trend of aluminum can recycling in 2012 with a rate of 67 percent, according to data released by the Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). This is the highest recycling rate since the early 1990s and the second highest rate reported since the survey began in 1972. The new rate marks progress toward the industry’s goal of 75 percent recycling by 2015.

The new rate means that in 2012, the aluminum can industry recycled some 62 billion domestic and imported cans while shipping 92 billion cans in the U.S. The energy saved from this recycling equaled 19 million barrels of crude oil which could fuel more than 1.7 million cars for a full year.

The increase in the industry’s recycling rate in recent years has been driven largely by the addition of cans imported into the U.S. Because of the closed loop aspect of aluminum can recycling, and aluminum’s significantly higher inherent value in the recycling stream, used cans easily cross borders and are extremely attractive for recycling. In fact, U.S. recyclers often import cans from Mexico, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Poland and other countries. In 2012 alone, the industry imported and recycled close to 13 billion cans, nearly double the amount imported just 5 years ago. The increased recycling rate is reflective of this dynamic.

“The increased recycling rate for aluminum cans is representative of the growth in the scrap recycling industry as a whole,” said Robin Wiener, president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. “The U.S. scrap recycling industry grew from $54 billion in sales in 2009 to more than $90 billion in 2012, while also adding more than 15,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010. As the recycling industry continues to expand, we also hope to see a continued increase in the aluminum can recycling rate.”

It takes just 5 percent of the energy to produce recycled aluminum versus primary aluminum. At the same time, nearly $900 million worth of aluminum cans don’t make it to the recycling bin each year and instead end up in landfills. These landfilled cans, which could otherwise have been recycled and made into new cans, reflect a significant loss to the economy, society through lost jobs, and the environment.