Every can counts

Domestic collection of drink cans is already well established in Europe, and in the UK 94 per cent of local authorities offer kerbside collection, which makes recycling at home easier than ever. But what about all those drink cans consumed away from home? They, too, are important, particularly when you consider that every drink can that is recycled in Europe uses 20 times less energy than making a new one.

Aside from the added energy savings, recovering and recycling cans consumed away from home is also cost-effective due to the inherent value of metal scrap. What is more, research shows that the public actively wants to be able to recycle more away from home, too.

That is why a big focus for Beverage Can Makers Europe (the European trade body representing the major can manufacturers) this year has been developing ‘recycling on the go’ initiatives as a way to increase the recycling rate in Europe.

To lead the way, BCME supports Every Can Counts (ECC) in the UK. Launched in October 2008, this is a workplace and university recycling programme funded by the beverage can industry and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme). The programme is managed by Alupro.

ECC has been established to help recover the 30 per cent of drinks cans (30,000 tonnes of aluminium and 12,000 tonnes of steel) consumed outside the home where there is no access to kerbside collection, and to ensure that these cans are recycled rather than being sent to landfill.

Partnerships have been established with a number of major recycling businesses. Currently 98 locations participate in ECC including universities, retailers, supermarkets, hospitals and factories. The programme is working with recycling champions at the different sites to develop, and test, internal communications programmes and to establish examples of ‘best practice’.

Most recently, at the start of July, Every Can Counts launched in 49 ASDA stores in the North West of England. The initiative is currently running in the Lancashire area and will then be rolled out to all of ASDA’s 360 stores nationwide after an initial trial period.

Recycling cans on the go is also happening at events in France. For example, BCME was at this summer’s 24-hour race at Le Mans with eight can crushers positioned throughout the VIP village on the Le Mans circuit. This was a pilot programme and members of the public were engaged with using the crushers as BCME demonstrated how easy it is to recycle drinks cans. The event will be used to inform the process for recycling drinks cans at future similar events.

John Revess, of Rexam, a member of BCME, concludes: “The drink can is a uniquely sustainable beverage pack: every single drink can is 100 per cent recyclable, and can be recycled again and again, without any loss of quality. This saves up to 95 per cent of the energy needed to make cans from virgin ore, as well as protecting the Earth’s precious resources. The can you put in an Every Can Counts bin could be recycled and back on shelf within six weeks.

“In the UK, the recycling rate of drink cans is around 50 per cent – every extra can that we recycle will contribute to further reducing our own carbon footprint. Using and recycling drink cans is an easy way to lessen the impact we have on the environment, but there is a lot more that we can do by increasing the ‘away from home’ recycling rate,” he comments.