IMPACTING AN INDUSTRY

The future effectiveness of implementing various strategies to increase the number of aluminum cans diverted from the waste stream for recycling at the public and private level remains to be seen. In the meantime, the declining aluminum can recycling rate affects the overall industry in various ways.

"The declining rates have been a call to action for the aluminum recycling industries. Multiple programs are underway to test for the best way to increase awareness, convenience and ultimately recycling rates," Lise Herren, executive vice president of Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corp., St. Louis, says.

"Declining recycling rates affect efficiencies within the infrastructure at all levels—buy back, drop off and curbside," she says. "The aluminum can is the most valuable beverage container commodity recycled in the curbside stream. A greater quantity of aluminum cans could help solve many of the existing problems in municipalities who are currently trying to justify their programs."

The decline in the recycling rate is also exerting some pressure on the current recycling infrastructure.

"Across all the systems and locales, if fewer cans are coming through, it discourages creating the markets, such as the buy-back centers. Conversely, the recycling industry has consolidated and become more competitive," she says. "As there are fewer places to take the cans, that discourages recycling."

The importance of recycling to the aluminum industry cannot be ignored.

"Recycling is very important to our industry, especially for the beverage can in that a third of our national supply of aluminum has come through recycling," Robin King of the Aluminum Association, Washington, says. "That does two things. It reduces the need for mining and other sourcing of aluminum, which lowers the cost for consumers and reduces the amount of energy required to process and fabricate aluminum significantly, so it saves energy supply for the U.S. and energy costs, thus reducing the cost of the can or any other [aluminum] products."