Aluminum Cans Show Highest Circular Performance of U.S. Beverage Packages
A new report assessing three U.S. beverage packaging types — aluminum cans, glass bottles and plastic PET bottles — finds aluminum cans have the highest circular performance. In the current U.S. system, more than 80% of beverage cans collected for recycling are recovered and turned back into new beverage containers, compared with 59% of glass bottles and only 13% of plastic PET bottles.
In addition to the analysis of current circular performance, the report analyzed the carbon emission reduction potential for the three beverage packaging types under three future scenarios – 100% collection, 100% sortation and a national deposit system. In each future scenario, the aluminum can delivered the highest carbon emission reduction potential. For example, once a 100% deposit collection rate is achieved for each material type, the total emissions impact reduction potential for recovering one metric ton of aluminum cans is three times higher than plastic PET bottles and 42 times higher than glass bottles.