We’re CIWM Awards finalists!
MetalMatters has been announced as a finalist in the 2017 CIWM Awards ‘Most Effective Communications’ category.
These long-standing and well-respected awards are given for outstanding achievement in the sustainability, resource and waste industry.
Judged by the most respected experts in the sector, the awards represent the highest level of achievement and are entered and sponsored by organisations from all over the UK who are passionate about excellence and thought leadership.
Having won the CIWM Award in the same category for the MetalMatters pilot campaign back in 2011 we are hopeful that we can succeed again, although we do have tough competition from the other finalists in our category. Please keep your fingers crossed for us and we’ll keep you posted with the results.
The Award ceremony will take place in London on Thursday 2nd November.
When the feasting is over, don’t forget the recycling!
Here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody’s having fun! They are also having delicious mince pies, scrummy roast potatoes and all manner of oven-baked party treats. And guess what material is getting an above average outing during this busy, festive holiday? That’s right, aluminium. Read more
Meet The Usual (and some unusual) Suspects
As part of Recycle Week 2016 we’re focusing on helping people understand how much aluminium packaging they use (you’d surprised how much), and how easy it is to recycle it…
Rexam & Carlsberg celebrate first ever Cradle-to-Cradle certification for beverage can
Rexam and Carlsberg recently celebrated a Bronze level certification from the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute for cans supplied by Rexam into the UK market. Matthew Rowland Jones, European Sustainability Manager at Rexam, explains more:
The Bronze Certification marks an important step in our joint sustainability journey with Carlsberg. The certification, part of Carlsberg’s Circular Community initiative, is the first ever Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification to be given to a beverage can. The acknowledgement was a huge feat for both Carlsberg and Rexam and marked the first success of their partnership that formed in 2013, when Rexam joined the Carlsberg Circular Community as a founding member.
The Carlsberg Circular Community uses the Cradle-to-Cradle® design framework to work with suppliers and encourage innovation and quality in the industry in pursuit of zero-waste, a key focus for Rexam. It aims to increase the creation of sustainable innovations, create clean material streams that are optimised for reuse and recycling, as well as support the sharing of knowledge between companies to create resource efficient products.
The C2C certification describes how products fit into circular economy Technical or Biological cycles. According to publications by the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation, these cycles are the basis for cost-effective circular economy material flows. C2C is also the only certification to identify up-cycling potential by ranking ingredients for those cycles.
The Rexam cans were assessed on five areas of sustainability including material health, material reutilisation, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship and social fairness; the results reinforce Rexam’s key belief in the can as a packaging format that is highly optimised for a sustainable, circular economy.
As a global beverage can maker, sustainability lies at the heart of Rexam. Earlier in 2014 Rexam developed a unique infographic with engaging illustrations, highlighting the three key stages of beverage cans within the circular economy – manufacturing, consumption and recycling, showcasing the infinite recycling potential of the beverage can and its resource efficiency credentials. 
We were thrilled to be part of a collaboration that sees cans supplied by Rexam awarded the first Cradle-to-Cradle certification of its kind. There is still a way to go to encouraging consumers to recycle cans and focusing on consumer involvement in the recycling process continues to be a focus for us moving forward.
The bronze award Carlsberg and Rexam received was categorised at a level where most C2C certified products usually start, and Rexam has developed a plan to ensure continuous improvement moving forward. By working collaboratively, Rexam and Carlsberg will strive to improve recycling rates locally and help supplier communities to accelerate their material and process improvements.
Investing in Aluminium – the key to beating flat-lining recycling performance?
The publication of the Q4 2014 recycling performance data shows that Aluminium packaging recycling in the UK increased by 3% over the year and achieved its 46% target. As the first quarter of 2015 nears its end Alupro Executive Director Rick Hindley looks at the outlook for the sector in the months ahead: Read more
Novelis Marks Commercial Debut of evercan™ Aluminum Beverage Can Sheet
Novelis, has announced the world’s first commercial use of evercan™, the company’s independently certified high-recycled content aluminium sheet for beverage cans.
Red Hare Brewing Company‘s craft beer packaged exclusively in cans made of Novelis’ evercan aluminium sheet, which is made of a guaranteed minimum 90 percent recycled content, is expected to be on store shelves beginning in May 2014 in key markets throughout the south eastern U.S. Read more
Study proves aluminium household foil a sustainable sandwich wrap option
News from the European Aluminium Foil Association: April, 2014
A study undertaken by IFEU (The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research) to measure the relative environmental performance of two different sandwich packs – aluminium household foil and a rigid plastic lunchbox – found that aluminium foil performs very favourably in terms of environmental impact and should be considered a sustainable and convenient alternative product for packed lunches.
A recent study at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) in Germany, disproves the common consumer belief that a disposable product has a far greater environmental impact than a reusable solution and shows that aluminium household foil is a sustainable option that performs no worse – and in some cases even better – than the reusable plastic lunchbox. Read more
Promoting aluminium packaging recycling at the BBC Good Food Show Winter
At first you wouldn’t think it appropriate for a packaging recycling organisation to exhibit at a food show, it’s more appropriate surely that these are the preserves of artisan food producers and Michelin-starred chefs? But there can be few better opportunities to showcase the versatility and recyclability of aluminium packaging to an engaged audience than the annual BBC Good Food Show, so that’s where the Alupro team spent in the last weekend of November.
The majority of aluminium packaging is found in the kitchen – as cans, dairy lidding, foil wrappers and food trays and even the screw tops on wine bottles – so when people are thinking about eating and drinking over the festive season what better time to remind them about what and how to recycle afterwards? Read more
