APEAL Reports Record European Steel Packaging Recycling Rate

The Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL), Brussels, reports that the recycling rate of steel packaging in Europe reached 72 percent in 2009, a two percent increase from the prior year.

In a news release, APEAL reports that the steel package recycling rate tops the rate of other packaging materials such as plastics, which reported a 30 percent recycling rate; beverage cartons, a recycling rate of 34 percent; and glass, which showed a 67 percent recycling rate.

For the ninth straight year Belgium reported the greatest recycling rate, 98 percent.

Other successful recycling rates were achieve by Germany and the Netherlands, both of which posted a steel packaging recycling rate of greater than 87 percent. APEAL reports that Germany and the Netherlands have both benefited from an efficient national system of curbside collection.

APEAL also notes that during 2009, the most recently reported year, there were noticeable increases in the recycling rates among other European countries. Among these, APEAL singles out Poland, which has achieved an increase of 20 percent in the recycling rate of steel packaging, a substantial part of which can be attributed to the introduction of ferromagnetic sorting methods in several waste sorting facilities in 2009.