Alupro, the aluminium packaging recycling organisation, has thrown its full support behind Recycle Week (21-27 September). Organised by Recycle Now, this year’s campaign will run under the banner ‘Together We Recycle’ and aims to celebrate household recycling through the COVID-19 pandemic.

With aluminium recycling rates continuing to increase, the UK has already collected and recycled more than 95,000 tonnes of aluminium packaging to date in 2020.* Changing public perceptions and positive action from households nationwide have proven pivotal to driving this progress.

Now in its 17^th year, Recycle Week aims to celebrate these figures and inspire even more people to recycle. This year’s campaign also aims to thank the waste management key workers who kept the industry moving during the national lockdown.

Rick Hindley, executive director of Alupro, commented: “2020 has been a hugely challenging year. It has, however, highlighted the changing perceptions and widespread determination of householders to recycle their packaging waste, alongside the sheer resilience of the waste management industry.

“Since the start of the year, the UK’s aluminium recycling rates have continued to increase. It’s hugely positive to see such progress through kerbside, bring and on-the-go systems, as well as aluminium packaging recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA). With more than 95,000 tonnes collected already this year, we’re well on our way to exceeding targets.

“We’re delighted to support Recycle Week and want to play a key role in celebrating national progress. The campaign reflects the purpose of our own behavioural change campaigns, Every Can Counts and Metal Matters, which are both delivering profound change in national perceptions towards recycling.”

Alupro has represented the UK’s packaging recycling industry for more than 30 years. The organisation’s Every Can Counts and Metal Matters behavioural change programmes continue to deliver exceptional results. Last month, Every Can Counts erected a giant rainbow on the Brighton beach seafront to promote recycling, while Leicester City Council has just announced a partnership with Metal Matters to encourage greater recycling across the city.

To celebrate Recycle Week, the Every Can Counts team is launching a recycling-themed augmented reality filter game (23 September). Catch ‘Em If You Can will offer players the chance to win a PlayStation 5 and will be accessible via both Facebook and Instagram.

For more information about Recycle Week, visit: https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/recycle-week-campaign. For more information about Alupro, visit: www.alupro.org.uk. To play Catch ‘Em If You Can, visit the Every Can Counts Facebook or Instagram page.

 

ENDS

 

* According to provisional monthly packaging data published by the Environment Agency

As the latest data shows that the UK Lockdown has driven a spike in aluminium packaging recycling rates, this week, Alupro’s Executive Director, Rick Hindley, speaks to Nadine Bloxsome Editor of Aluminium International Today about the drivers behind the increase and his thoughts on what a fixed fee Deposit Return Scheme would mean and should look like in the UK.

 

 

 

The UK’s aluminium packaging recycling rate has risen to 56%, its highest ever level, increasing year-on-year by 4% (from 52% in 2018). That’s the findings of the latest Environment Agency data, published on the National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD) earlier this month.

The aluminium packaging market grew by 8% (year-on-year), with 207,000 tonnes of aluminium packaging sold in the UK during 2019. A record 116,670 tonnes were recycled, including an estimated 76% of all aluminium beverage cans sold.

More than 102,944 tonnes of the collected  aluminium packaging (88%) was recycled into new high quality products within Europe. The business recycling rate once again surpassed targets, reaching 63% (compared to 60% in 2018), while consumer-collected aluminium packaging recycling also rocketed by 20% year-on-year (from 74,595 in 2018 to 89,543 in 2019).

Alongside greater public awareness about the widespread benefits of recycling, delivered through initiatives such as MetalMatters and Every Can Counts, the positive increase can be partly attributed to the aluminium sector’s continued investment into ensuring that the packaging it produces is recycled. The volume of aluminium packaging recovered from incinerator bottom ash (IBA) also increased, as a result of increasing volume of household residual waste  being diverted to energy from waste plants (EfW) rather than going to landfill.

Rick Hindley, executive director at Alupro, commented: “The continuing increase in recycling rates is all the more significant given the substantial increase in sales of aluminium packaging. Aluminium recycling is a true circular success story. Infinitely recyclable, reformed endlessly and retaining its properties indefinitely, nearly 75% of all aluminium ever produced worldwide is still in use today. Within 60 days, the aluminium packaging that consumers recycle could be back on supermarket shelves – a hugely powerful message that really seems to resonate.

“Since 2010, the UK’s aluminium packaging recycling rate has increased by 15% (from 41% in 2010 to 56% in 2019). This demonstrates the desire of British consumers to step up and do their bit for the environment. Our goal is to achieve an aluminium packaging recycling rate close to 100% across the UK – maintaining such impressive progress is essential to make this a reality.”

 

ENDS

• Scottish Government fails to fully consider the views of the public and industry as well as the advice of its own Environment Committee regarding proposed DRS

• Scots could face upfront beverage price hikes and see plastic bottles flood supermarket shelves as a result

• MSPs meet later this week (29 April) to answer questions and finalise key elements

The Scottish Government has failed to consider the valuable views of its constituents, the packaging industry and its own Environment Committee regarding the planned introduction of a national deposit return scheme (DRS). That’s the serious concern of the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), which is calling for MSPs to vote against the regulations, as they are currently drafted, at this week’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee meeting (29 April).

Aiming to tackle plastic pollution, increase recycling rates, improve recyclate quality and minimise litter, Scotland’s DRS is expected to come into force in 2022. The scheme will see a deposit value added to the price of a beverage product in store, which will be refunded to the customer when empty packaging is returned to a designated collection point.

Under the proposed regulations, a flat deposit fee of 20p will be applied to all sizes of container. This could see customers charged an additional £4.80 upfront for a 24-can multipack, while only 80 pence for the same volume of drink packed in four large plastic bottles. In this scenario, independent research suggests* that two thirds of consumers would be likely to opt for larger plastic alternatives, resulting in the unnecessary production of c.82 m additional plastic bottles.

A Survation** poll, commissioned in February 2020 by Nature 2030 (an international coalition of businesses, politicians and activists working in cooperation to tackle environmental challenges), identified that Scots were fundamentally against this approach, with almost six-in-ten backing an alternative model in which the deposit level varies based on the size of the container they buy. Just 12% of respondents offered their support to a flat fee. All successful DRS schemes operating in the Nordics have a variable fee and even with small deposits the return rate is very high.

A number of leading industry bodies have also spoken out against the flat deposit fee, including the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association, UK Can Makers and the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), who have formally written to the first minister, members of the ECCLR Committee and Zero Waste Scotland to raise their concerns. However, the Scottish Government has seemingly ignored this collective feedback to date.

Rick Hindley, executive director at Alupro, commented: “While we are fully supportive of a well-designed DRS, we remain deeply apprehensive about a number of points outlined within the regulations in their current form. It is our primary concern that a flat deposit fee will unfairly distort the market and result in a tidal wave of unnecessary plastic bottles – a key issue that the scheme is fundamentally trying to solve.

“What’s more, the majority of consumers buy multipacks, and, at the point of purchase, these will become almost twice as expensive as the equivalent volume in plastic if a DRS is introduced with the same deposit fee. This would not only be a significant additional upfront cost for household budgets, but also result in more customers switching to plastic.

“Aluminium cans are a lightweight, valuable and infinitely recyclable material – the perfect example of a circular economy. In the UK, 75% of aluminium beverage cans are already collected and recycled every year, providing feedstock for new cans to be made. As aluminium cans are the world’s most recycled drinks package, replacing them with plastic alternatives would be a travesty, but unfortunately a real possibility if regulations are approved in their current format.

“To prevent this scenario, we suggest that the deposit amount should not be specified in the regulations and the scheme administrator should set the variable deposit fee based on the size of container, which is normal practice in other countries with high performing DRS systems. What’s more, we also believe that it would be prudent for the Scottish Government to allow itself greater flexibility and scope to react to the market after the covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s a tremendous shame that, despite the ECCLR supporting our call for a variable deposit, and for the scheme administrator to set the deposit, last time they reviewed the proposals, this has seemingly been ignored by the Scottish Government. In addition, some of the information the government has used to justify the proposal is both incorrect and misleading.

“We implore the Scottish Government to consider the hugely negative environmental consequences of approving the regulations in their current form and raise these concerns at the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee meeting later this week.”

 

To find out more about Alupro, or for more information about the environmental benefits of aluminium packaging, visit www.alupro.org.uk.

 

ENDS

 

* Survey of 2,000 UK adults, undertaken by Alupro (2019)

** Survey of 1,019 people, aged 16+ living in Scotland, on behalf of Nature 2030 (https://www.survation.com/support-in-scotland-for-a-wide-ranging-deposit-return-scheme/)