Aluminum can recycling holds at historically high levels
U.S. industry recycling rate remains above 65% for third consecutive year
Aluminum beverage cans are once again the most recycled beverage packaging type in the United States with an industry recycling rate of 66.7% in 2013, according to new data released by the Aluminum Association (aluminum.org), Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI, cancentral.com) and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI, isri.org). This marks the third consecutive year the rate has held above 65%, compared to an average rate of 54% reported during the previous decade. Since it takes just 8% of the energy to produce recycled aluminum versus new aluminum, energy saved from this effort is enough to fuel more than 1 million cars on the road for a full year.
The Aluminum Association began reporting an annual aluminum can recycling rate in 1972, with a rate of 15.4%.