Tom Giddings, executive director of Alupro, explains the reasoning behind soaring aluminium packaging recycling volumes and a growing domestic market.
As well as celebrating positive progress, he outlines precisely what’s needed from the new government to maintain national momentum.
According to annual data published on the National Packaging Waste Database by the Environment Agency, the UK’s aluminium packaging recycling rate hit an impressive 68% in 2023.
A record-breaking 162,357 tonnes were recycled nationwide, including more than four in five beverage cans (81%).
Aluminium packaging collected through kerbside, bring and on-the-go systems increased by 13% year-on-year (115,382, compared to 102,195 in 2022). Elsewhere, tonnage recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA) shot up by 17% (45,632, compared to 38,982 in 2022).
As an industry, we’ve been investing heavily in optimising our collection and recycling infrastructure for the past 20 years and we’re now starting to reap the rewards of this long-term commitment.
Despite ongoing delays and uncertainty surrounding proposed changes to national recycling legislation, the sector is continuing to deliver over and above annual targets year after year.
Aluminium is becoming the packaging material of choice for many brands, which is consequently seeing the domestic market expand rapidly.
Alongside being lightweight and versatile enough to be used in a wide variety of packaging formats, it’s strong, durable and can withstand high pressures and physical stresses during transport and storage.
What’s more, it keeps contents perfectly protected from oxygen, light and microorganisms, making it the ideal material for preserving freshness and shelf life.
Most importantly, however, it can be recycled over and over again without losing quality or functionality – the perfect example of a circular packaging economy.
Rising demand for aluminium packaging has hugely positive knock-on impacts. Alongside more jobs, more investment and widespread economic growth, this is also resulting in a reduction in the consumption of less sustainable packaging materials, as well as an increase in recycling volumes.
Identifying effective strategies to maintain momentum should therefore remain high up the national agenda.
After all, with stringent sustainability targets to hit and the ambition of eliminating environmentally damaging materials from the supply chain, aluminium clearly has a leading role to play.
How to accelerate policy momentum
As we begin a new dawn under a new government, accelerating policy momentum is critical to further increase recycling volumes and maximise material quality.
Improving public engagement through educational initiatives (such as our MetalMatters and Every Can Counts programmes) should remain the absolute priority, however, working toward our goals of delivering a world-class recycling system for the UK and achieving a 100% recycling rate for aluminium packaging also requires legislative change.
We must therefore see the coming months as an opportunity to deliver measurable progress. Implementing a deposit return scheme (DRS) by 2027, preferably one that has a variable deposit fee, will undoubtedly increase capture rates.
An effective extended producer responsibility (EPR) system, with varying fees to incentivise the use of sustainable materials, is also imperative.
The pressing need for progress was a key driver behind creating our aluminium manifesto – a document developed in partnership with leading representatives from across the UK’s thriving aluminium supply chain to voice the seven key areas needed to deliver a world-class recycling system.
- That used aluminium packaging is consistently collected for recycling wherever possible.
- That ambitious on-the-go recycling infrastructure is put in place to prevent the landfilling or littering of recyclable material.
- That government and industry must collaborate to educate consumers about best practice aluminium recycling.
- That a well-designed DRS, with variable deposit fee, is implemented to promote the high collection and recycling of beverage containers.
- That a well-designed EPR system is implemented that incentivises the use, and value, of infinitely recyclable aluminium.
- That the government must support the deployment of proven technologies to facilitate the widespread recycling of aluminium packaging.
- That recyclable products recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA) are accounted for in recycling rates.
Drafted back in 2022, we recently updated the document to reflect policy progress made in the years since.
It’s safe to say that, due to ongoing delays and uncertainty surrounding proposed changes to national recycling legislation, we still remain at the early stages of seeing significant change coming to fruition.
While frustrating, we hope that, moving forward, the document will serve as a valuable roadmap to achieve a 100% recycling rate for aluminium packaging, foster collaboration and maximise the contribution of aluminium packaging to a circular economy in the UK.
There is a significant opportunity for the new government to drive positive progress but, more importantly than anything else, is the requirement to maintain momentum.
