The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), Washington, is inviting Americans to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the food can. “The can revolution began on August 25, 1810, when Englishman Peter Durand was granted a patent for an idea to preserve food in tin-plate vessels,” notes a news release from the CMI.
The group says the can manufacturing industry was born in England in 1812 and was brought to the United States by English immigrant Thomas Kensett that same year. Kensett started a canning business with glass jars but, like Durand, switched to tin and received a U.S. patent in 1825.
Innovations in can manufacturing over the past two centuries have taken the can from the original ‘hole and cap’ soldered tin cylinder that was produced at a rate of 10 cans per day to 100 percent recyclable aluminum and steel containers churned out by the billions every year,” writes the CMI in its news release.
Adds the CMI, “Today, both steel and aluminum cans are recognized as endlessly recyclable, meaning they can be recycled over and over without loss of strength of quality.”
The group lists among its recycling facts:
- Consumers recycle more than 1.5 million tons of steel cans, contributing to the more than 82 million tons of steel recycled in 2009.
- Consumers helped recycle more than 2 billion pounds of aluminum by recycling cans.
- Manufacturing new steel and aluminum cans from recycled cans uses 75 percent and 95 percent less energy, respectively, than producing cans from virgin materials.
- A recycled aluminum beverage can make its way back to the store shelf in as little as 60 days.
- Since recycling began in America, consumers have earned more than $10 billion by returning their aluminum cans.
- More than 137,200 aluminum and steel cans combined are recycled every minute in the United States.
More information on the history of metal food and beverage cans has been posted at by the CMI at www.canniversary.com.