Why Aluminium?
Most recycled & easily recycled.
Aluminium is the most recycled and most recyclable packaging material.
Aluminium is our best chance at a circular packaging economy. In Australia, 91% of Australian households have access to kerb-side recycling that accepts aluminium and an aluminium can has an 82% chance to become a new can. The average in Australia can contains 62% recycled content, the highest average of any beverage packaging.
100% recyclable, infinitely.
Aluminium is 100% recyclable - infinitely.
Unlike other packaging materials, Aluminium doesn’t degrade or lose purity during the recycling process, meaning it can be recycled indefinitely. The process is essentially a closed-loop; meaning 100% of aluminium bottles and cans become new bottles and cans. This process can be as short as 60-90 days.
A valuable commodity.
Aluminium has the highest scrap price of any packaging material.
Why does aluminium rarely find its way to landfill? Aluminium is worth over $2,000 per tonne, but plastic? Less than $300. Glass? around $30.
Aluminium’s high-scrap value is directly linked to the energy saving benefits of recycling aluminium. Recycling aluminium uses just 5% of the energy required to produce new aluminium, so there’s a strong incentive to repurpose aluminium.
Lightweight &
efficient
Aluminium is lighter to transport and lighter on the environment.
Aluminium doesn’t shatter and are among the lightest beverage packages to transport greatly reducing the environmental footprint. A 375ml can is a featherweight at just 14 g. The middleweight PET bottle weighs ~24 g, while the heavyweight champ of the drink container world, the glass bottle, weighs a comparatively colossal 200 g.
The additional grams hold a sizeable environmental punch, as fewer containers can be loaded onto trucks due to weight limits, meaning more trips, and a heavier load uses more fuel.
Sealed for
freshness
Aluminium provides longer shelf life.
Aluminium protects products inside from light, oxygen and other factors that can affect taste and even product safety.
According to the Science History Institute, “Some scientists and members of the public are concerned about evidence that chemicals leach out of plastics and into our food, water, and bodies. In very high doses these chemicals can disrupt the endocrine (or hormonal) system. Researchers worry particularly about the effects of these chemicals on children and what continued accumulation means for future generations.”
Sources: Australian Packaging Covenant Org. 2018 - Market Impact Assessment Report.