Ensuring a truly circular economy

Alupro's executive director, Tom Giddings, addresses the attendees in the Jubilee Room of the House of Commons. Image: Alex Rivers

Last week, Food & Drink Technology editor, Rodney Jack and I had the privilege of being invited to a lunch reception hosted by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) at the House of Commons.

The theme of the day was ‘Driving a real circular economy for aluminium in 2025.’ As we arrived in the Jubilee Rooms, we were encouraged to show our support for this by signing our names underneath a pledge for the industry to:

  1. Roll out a world-class Deposit Return Scheme for aluminium drinks containers by October 2027.
  2. Implement a packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system that promotes the most recyclable materials like aluminium and holds all parties accountable for delivering higher recycling rates.
  3. Support UK recycling infrastructure by promoting policies that encourage UK competitiveness, investment and innovation.

After an inspiring introduction and welcome from MP, Rupa Huq, Sam Jones, head of climate and sustainability at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) offered an overview of how CCEP is supporting a circular economy, with its net-zero aligned goals – the company is working toward a 30 per cent reduction of its emissions by 2030, as well as a 40 per cent reduction in its supply chain. Jones explained that the three main levers for achieving these goals are renewable electricity, increasing recycling rates and recycled content.

CCEP is involved in 47 different DRS schemes worldwide. However, Jones noted the problems involved in Wales exiting the planned UK-wide scheme, which will be costly and could increase the risk of fraud. “We really do need a four-nation scheme,” he stressed.

As well as the above, Alupro also shared its 2023 Impact Report with us. Through impactful programmes like Every Can Counts, MetalMatters, and Foil in Love with Recycling, Alupro partnered with councils, educators, and communities to inspire real change and can celebrate many highlights from across its 12 commitments in 2023.

One massive highlight Alupro shared is that a total of 162,000 tonnes of aluminium packaging were recycled – more than any year on record. That included 81 per cent of beverage cans and meant that a total of 2.3 million tonnes of carbon were saved as a result of using recycled versus new metal in packaging.

This, coupled with more record-breaking results from Q3 of 2024 shared with our readers last week, makes for encouraging news.

For more detail, you can find Alupro’s impact report here.

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