Redditch, UK - Rick Hindley, executive director from Alupro, has announced that the aluminium beverage can recycling rate reached 55 percent in 2009. Speaking at the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation's (Alupro's) 2010 conference titled 'Stepping up to the challenge', he said the increase from 51 percent in 2008 is a major achievement but that more needs to be done to grow recycling rates further. The conference marked 21 years of UK aluminium packaging recycling.

The event, which was attended by over 100 delegates, focussed attention on how the industry is improving the collection infrastructure, encouraging greater public participation and increasing capture rates.

Key note speaker, environmental commentator Julia Hales MBE, encouraged the industry to be even more ambitious. She called on the aluminium sector to set itself an ambitious recycling target of 100 percent and to set the pace to achieve the changes that are needed to move towards such an ambitious target.

Mr Hindley said: "Achieving a recycling rate of 55 percent is a major achievement. We have a long-term ambition to grow our recycling rate further, but this will require significant changes to the recycling infrastructure and the creation of even more effective partnerships with everyone involved in aluminium recycling. Our work shows that with the current infrastructure a 65 percent recycling rate can be achieved by 2020, to go beyond this will require a massive effort and significant infrastructure changes."

Reflecting on 21 years of aluminium recycling Mr Hindley said: "Aluminium packaging recycling has come a long way in the last 21 years. We can look back on a packaging recycling rate that has grown from less than 2 percent in 1989 to over 42 percent in 2009.

"Aluminium for recycling comes almost entirely from the domestic waste stream which is expensive and difficult to access. In the last 21 years the industry has invested in excess of £50 million to stimulate collection and drive recycling performance. No other industry has done more to access its material and achieve its targets."

He added: "The future for aluminium recycling is very positive. Demand for scrap is only going to continue to grow and we are going to continue to actively promote the recycling of aluminium beverage cans, foil and aerosols."

Quelle: Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro)

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