Crown’s Asia CanTech 2023 keynote

Alex Rivers speaks to Adrine Thiban Arokiamsamy, regulatory affairs analyst at Crown Holdings and keynote speaker at this year’s Asia CanTech, about his involvement in the company’s new aluminium beverage can recycling rate study, which covers Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

“At Crown, my main area of expertise is on food contact materials, but last year, I also started focusing on sustainability to support Crown’s business in Asia Pacific. I have had some exposure to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and have been working on an exciting aluminium can recycling rate study, which we are pleased to share with CanTech International readers.”

What was the reason behind Crown undertaking this new study?

“As part of Crown’s Twentyby30™ sustainability programme, one of the goals is to set the aluminium can recycling rate target for Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand by 2025.

“We found out that the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) had been working on the same topic, and so we have joined with them and other partners on our new study.”

So, what are the recycling rates currently like in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand?

“As per the findings, the recycling rates are actually all quite high. For Vietnam and also for Cambodia, the rates are more than 90 per cent. Thailand is around 86 per cent.

“However, despite such high recovery rate, can- to-can recycling is not as strong in Vietnam and Cambodia. In Thailand, it is approximately 78 per cent. The reason for this is because Thailand has a rolling mill with can processing infrastructure which provides opportunity for local can-to-can recycling. Vietnam does not have a rolling mill hence no local can-to-can recycling locally. Used beverage cans (UBCs) are either exported to other countries or downcycled . There is also an export duty there of 22 per cent, which deters other regions from buying recycled material from Vietnam. Most of its UBCs are actually going to Thailand’s rolling mill for can-to- can recycling. In Cambodia, there is also no rolling mill and virtually all scraps are exported to Thailand, Vietnam and China.

“What we’ve been working on with IAI and Roland Berger, the consultant for the study, is ways to improve this situation – which of course begins with setting the recycling rate goals so there is something quantifiable for the three countries to work towards.

“In Thailand, a certain amount of its recycling is still reaching landfill, so improvement is needed during collection and separation. The local municipality in Thailand, especially in Bangkok, can support the implementation of separate collection at the source. “The common theme we see for these three countries are waste pickers and informal waste pickers. They are the main drivers in collecting used cans, because aluminium has such a high value compared to other packaging substrates.”

You mentioned EPR. Do the three countries have this in place?

“In terms of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), none of the three countries have it currently; however, Vietnam will be starting next year.”

What else needs to be done to improve recycling rates further?

“There should be strong advocacy to educate consumers in all three of these countries to recycle properly.

“The scrap in Thailand is actually well sought after because the country is effective at sorting waste; the content is very high-quality for recycling, compared to in Vietnam and Cambodia. This is some of the information we received from the aluminium producers in the region.

“Another thing needed is to improve the waste pickers’ working environment. In these three countries, workers may not have proper uniforms and collect waste with their bare hands; health seems to not be their top priority.

“These people need to be registered formally with the government, so the government is able to more closely monitor working environments and foster safer waste collection.”

What are the biggest market drivers in these countries for metal packaging?

“In Thailand, Crown operates two beverage plants and five food plants.

“In terms of food, the biggest demand is for products such as seafood, fruit and coconut milk, because this all gets exported to Europe, the US and Middle Eastern countries.

“Beer and energy drinks remain the main regional drivers for beverage can sales. The same goes for Vietnam, where Crown operates five plants, and in Cambodia where there are three plants.”

What do you hope the new recycling rate study highlights?

“The main purpose of our beverage can recycling rate study is to highlight what the current recycling rates actually are, because this is not information that is publicly available from the countries’ government websites. In order to gather data from both urban and rural areas, we worked closely with our third- party research consultant.

“Additionally, our research will help to further promote aluminium cans’ infinite recyclability, their role in circularity and creating a closed loop model that preserves valuable resources and reduces the industry’s carbon footprint.

“We released our fact sheet from the study on 14 September, and we are pleased to include some of the information here for CanTech International readers. Turn the page to find out more, and of course, join my presentation in Bangkok for a more in-depth look at the results!”