Europe touts 74 percent UBC recycling rate

The overall recycling rate for aluminum beverage cans in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland reached 73.6 percent in 2015, which the Brussels-based organization European Aluminium calls a new record. The rate exceeds the recently approved EU 2025 recycling target of 65 percent for all packaging.

On the entire European continent (including other Eastern European countries such as Russia and Turkey) more than 32 billion cans were recycled that year. “This means that every second, at least 1,000 aluminum beverage cans are being recycled somewhere in Europe,” says the organization.

At the upper end of the scale in 2015 were Germany and Finland with 99 percent recycling rates, followed by Belgium with a 98 percent rate and Norway at 96 percent. Showing need for improvement was Portugal with a 29 percent rate, followed by Greece at 35 percent and Cyprus and Hungary at 38 percent.

Aluminum beverage cans contribute to a large extent to the overall estimated recycling result of 65 percent for all aluminum packaging, adds the group. “However, as this result is not yet fully based on the future EU measurement point after the final sorting phase, European Aluminium calls upon the Member States to make an extra effort to collect, sort and recycle more drink cans and other aluminum packaging items within the coming years,” the organization states in a press release.

‘’We strongly recommend that local authorities together with the waste management chain invest more in innovative sorting technologies,” comments Andy Doran, chairman of the European Aluminium Packaging Group. “Fortunately, these investments will pay off quickly, due to the relatively high scrap value of aluminum.”

Doran also pointed to the need to work together on addressing the “away from home” recycling of beverage cans at the workplace and at festivals and other outdoor events. ‘’Packaging recovery organizations should embrace our successful awareness program with the can manufacturers, ‘Every Can Counts,’ and help us to convince European citizens to the do the right thing, which is to collect and recycle their used cans wherever they are.”