The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) has added to its range of free resources to help local authorities encourage residents to recycle aluminium packaging over Christmas.

Alupro has produced a short animated video to promote the recycling during the festive season.  This adds to the range of advertising templates and digital communications that the organisation provides free on its online media library, and which local authorities are welcome to download, adapt and use as part of their festive communications campaigns.

The new video recently featured at the BBC Good Food Show Winter, where it was part of the ‘Supertheatre’ shows hosted by leading TV chefs, and was seen by over 24,000 people over the four day event.

“It’s surprising how many of our festive treats come packaged in aluminium. From oven ready turkeys in aluminium trays to party food, and of course there’s the 175 million mince pies we’ll be munching our way through! So Alupro is reminding everyone to put drinks cans, pie cases, kitchen foil and turkey trays in their recycling,” says Rick Hindley, Executive Director of Alupro. “Since aluminium can be endlessly recycled, it can be remade into a vast range of products, and back on our shelves within a few weeks.”

Not sure what’s made of aluminium or how to recycle?

• Aerosols – after sprucing yourself up, drop those empty aerosols of hair mousse and deodorant in with your recycling. Remember only empty, used up aerosols should be recycled.
• Foil trays of festive food, mince pie cases and wrapping/chocolate foil – if necessary just give them a quick rinse or wipe clean, scrunch them up, and add them to your other metals for recycling.
• Metal bottle tops – the screw tops used on wine and spirits bottles are also made of aluminium, and are easiest to recycle if you screw the cap back on the bottle and recycle with the glass.

Drinks cans – an extra 500 million drinks cans are sold in the UK at Christmas time! Recycling one can saves enough energy to keep the Christmas tree lights on for two hours.

Rick adds: “Our Christmas campaign supports the work we do with local authorities throughout the year to encourage residents to recycle their metal packaging.  This includes the ‘MetalMatters’ programme, which sees industry partnering with local authorities to promote recycling. MetalMatters has been delivered in over 50 council areas, reaching 3 million households (read the story here).

Christmas Aluminium Packaging Recycling Facts:

• About 30% more rubbish is produced – that’s an estimated 3 million tonnes of waste.
• We’ll cook more than 19,000 tonnes of turkey much of which is packaged in recyclable foil trays. Please remember to rinse foil trays before recycling to remove food residue. See our video: Why rinse foil trays before recycling?
• We will eat around 175 million mince pies. Their foil cases can all be recycled. One tonne of aluminium weighs the same as 1 million mince pie cases
• An extra 500 million aluminium drinks cans are sold – each one could be recycled and the metal used to make more drinks cans in just 60 days.
• Recycling one aluminium drink can saves enough energy to run a set of Christmas tree lights for 2 hours.