The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) and its Italian counterpart, CiAl (Italian Consortium for the Recovery and Recycling of Aluminium) are co-sponsors of a women’s cycling road racing team during 2016. The sponsorship is part of their ongoing commitment to communicate the benefits of recycling aluminium packaging and protecting the environment to consumers across Europe.

The road race team, Servetto Footon AluRecycling is based in Asti, Italy and is a member of UCI, the world governing body for competitive cycling. The 18-strong team includes athletes from Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine. They take part in competitions across Europe including the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile, Ronde Van Vlaanderen in Flanders and Prudential Ride London Classique, and have recently returned from racing in China. Two of the team are British up-and-coming cyclists; Jessie Walker (aged 21) and Abby-Mae Parkinson (aged 18).

The two British riders will help raise the profile of Alupro’s programmes to encourage the recycling of aluminium packaging whilst in the UK to compete in events this summer, including the Aviva Women’s Tour (15^th-18^th June), the British National Road Championships (26^th June) and the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix (30^th July).

CiAL has an established programme of partnering with sporting organisations to help promote the sustainability of aluminium packaging, but this is the first time Alupro has become involved in this type of activity.

Alupro Executive Director, Rick Hindley explains: “With the growth in popularity of both women’s sport and cycling, this sponsorship opportunity has great potential to help us communicate with consumers in the UK from a new angle. There are obvious links to recycling’s role in preserving the environment in which the cyclists train and compete, and we’re pleased to be partnering with CiAl to communicate the benefits of recycling aluminium packaging to protect the environment for everyone, including world-class athletes.

“The Servetto Footon AluRecycling team is taking the aluminium packaging recycling message out on the road across Europe, so looking to the future we believe there is potential to link this activity to the work of the wider European network of aluminium packaging recycling associations, which is obviously an exciting prospect.”

Aluminium is widely used for packaging solutions because it is lightweight but strong and flexible. This includes packaging for food and drink consumed both in the home and whilst on the go. Recycling aluminium packaging saves up to 95% of the energy needed to make the metal from raw materials, saving natural resources and cutting greenhouse gas emissions every time the metal is reprocessed.

Alupro represents the UK’s leading aluminium packaging producers, reprocessors, converters, fillers and brands on issues relating to the recycling of aluminium packaging. Programmes include Every Can Counts, MetalMatters and the Caps & Closures campaign, ‘Leave your cap on’.