UK aluminium can recycling rate lags behind Europe

The aluminium trade sector body Alupro has defended the UK's aluminium can recycling rate after figures published this week showed that it reached 51% in 2008, compared to a Europe-wide average of 63.1%.

Data issued by the European Aluminium Association (EAA) yesterday (May 27) revealed that the UK also continues to lag behind countries such as Germany - which topped the European table with a 96% aluminium used beverage can (UBC) recycling rate in 2008, and others such as Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, who all also passed a 90% rate.

The figures for Europe as a whole, which show an increase from 61.8% were taken by the EAA to show that there was a continued clear upward trend of increasing aluminium packaging recycling rates, including in countries which don't have deposit or takeback schemes for cans.

And, commenting on the figures, the executive director of the UK's aluminium packaging recycling trade body Alupro, Rick Hindley, told letsrecycle.com that, in terms of the UK's performance, "given the UK system I think it's a good rate".

"If you compare it against other materials it holds up pretty well," he added, noting this was particularly true in terms of aluminium UBC being a solely consumer packaging waste stream, whereas other packaging materials were also found in the commercial waste stream.

He also stressed that, in 2008, the UK was "almost totally reliant" on collecting material at the kerbside, before initiatives such as 'on-the-go' recycling schemes got up and running.

And, he contrasted this to the way other countries collected aluminium UBCs - in particular The Netherlands where much of the material is recovered from incinerator bottom ash, and the number of other countries with a strong performance who used deposit schemes.

Of the eight countries to achieve a 90% or above aluminium UBC rate in 2008, six did so using a deposit scheme.

Rate

The UK's rate for 2008 is a slight drop from the 52% reported by the EAA for 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story), but Mr Hindley claimed that, based on official figures for aluminium packaging recovery notes for 2007, the UK's rate had only been 46.5% - with issues over the 'broadly equivalent' situation (see letsrecycle.com story) and reporting having led to the disparity.

He also claimed that, when Alupro publishes figures for the UK's aluminium packaging recycling rate for 2009 in July, "there will be a significant increase".

His positive assessment was echoed at a European level by the EAA which, explaining why it believed rates would continue to grow across Europe, said: "Local authorities and waste management operators are increasingly aware of the high scrap value of well sorted aluminium, even in difficult economic times we are seeing increased investment in the latest available sorting and recycling technologies.

"The aluminium industry supported by their partners, the can-makers, promote the sharing of best practices and additional collection and sorting activities at local level as key drivers in the continued recycling growth of used aluminium packaging," it added.