Boost for UK can recycling scheme

Jane Kennedy, UK Minister for Farming and the Environment, also rowed in behind the Every Can Counts scheme this week, saying it encourages companies to contribute to greater recycling and is a really good example of government and the private sector working together.

The recycling initiative, which is a partnership between drink can manufacturers, the recycling industry and leading waste management companies, started in October last year and is run by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), with the goal of recycling the 40,000 tonnes of metal thrown away outside the home.

It is funded by UK Can makers, Beverage Can Makers Europe, the UK government backed Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Novelis and Corus Steel Packaging Recycling (CSPR).

Recycling rates​

Steel, according to CSPR, is 100 per cent recyclable, can be recycled over and over without loss of quality, is easy to collect, and is now the most recycled packaging material in Europe.

“With the UK’s steel packaging recycling rate having already surpassed the European packaging recycling target of 54 per cent two years early, the challenge now is to continue this momentum through to 2010 and beyond,"​ said David Williams, a manager at CSPR.

Compliance​

Alupro argues that increasingly tighter regulations mean that all businesses are now legally required to pre-sort waste prior to disposal, and encouraging staff to recycle their drink cans through Every Can Counts is a good way for a company to achieve compliance.

The scheme also helps companies to work towards the ISO14001 standard, which exists to enable organisations minimise their effect on the environment: “Setting up waste recycling such as Every Can Counts, will be a positive step towards a business achieving this accreditation,​”​​claims Alupro.

Alupro executive director Rick Hindley said that a major retailer has registered with the scheme with discussions underway with a further four supermarkets.

Companies that join Every Can Counts, said Alupro, receive advertising materials for display in their work areas, as well as branded containers to store the cans prior to recycling.