Highlighting clear sustainability pathways
The Summit's first panel discussed the emissions profile of today's aluminium can versus the can of the future. Image: James Archer Photography
More than 150 leaders from around the world convened at the Global Aluminium Can Sustainability Summit in London from 1 to 2 October 2024. Alex Rivers reports
Taking place during London Metal Exchange Week, this year’s Global Aluminium Can Sustainability Summit was organised by the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), the Brazilian Association of Aluminum Can Manufacturers (Abralatas), the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), and Metal Packaging Europe (MPE).
CMI’s senior vice president of sustainability, Scott Breen, facilitated the panels, talks, interactive polls and group sessions, which all contributed to a versatile event format, offering a platform for in-depth analysis and providing inspirational takeaways for the aluminium sector in its journey toward decarbonisation.
Optimistic outlooks
The Summit’s first panel, comprising the Aluminum Association’s Matt Meenan; Ball Corporation’s Björn Kulmann; Crown’s Sandrine Duquerroy-Delesalle; Novelis’ Andy Doran and Speira’s Boris Kurth, detailed the emissions profile of the aluminium can today versus its profile in the future.
Globally, there has been a carbon reduction of 43 per cent of the can since 1992, the panel revealed, and aluminium recycling jobs hit a world record in 2024. Duquerroy-Delesalle also applauded the success of countries already implementing DRS, mentioning also UAE’s pilot EPR which launched in summer of this year, with a formal policy set to be introduced by 2026.
Kurth and Doran also shared the European Aluminium Packaging Group’s Circular Can End Project, which is aimed at boosting can-to-can recycling efficiency, as well as increasing recycled content in both the can body and end, ultimately reducing emissions and setting a new sustainability standard for beverage cans. The multi-year project (estimated three years of work) encourages value chain collaboration as part of a “unified process,” from aluminium sheet production to filling.
Collaboration to achieve unification is something Novelis and GreenBlue have also been working on, along with CMI and various can makers (including some of those present at and sponsoring the conference), to create a standardised approach to measuring recycled content in aluminium beverage cans. The objective of this project – intended for a global audience, explained GreenBlue’s advisor, Laura Thompson – is to adopt a consistent and transparent methodology to increase understanding for stakeholders while acknowledging the limitations involved. The recycled content formula developed from the project will be made into a voluntary guidance, with an estimated completion goal of the first quarter of 2025.
It was agreed by the Summit’s first panel that cans are clearly “having a moment” of mass popularity and demand, however, as International Aluminium’s deputy secretary general and director of sustainability, Purnelle Nunez, stated in the second panel, “there’s a huge task ahead.” To reach
the 1.5 degree global warming reduction target, the aluminium sector must reduce its emissions by a staggering 95 per cent, she shared.
“Even if you’re already a low-carbon producer, you will still need to reduce emissions because it’s not an option not to reach the 1.5-degree target,” stressed Nunez. She added that the technology to achieve this is available, but what is crucial is how businesses implement, scale and roll it out. She also highlighted that supply chain transparency is becoming more important than ever and reminded the audience that “if your business sets a target, you will be held accountable.”
Image: James Archer Photography
Global recycling rates
“We are proud of the fact that aluminium beverage cans are the most recycled packaging in the world,” commented Cátilo Cândido, president of Abralatas, one of the Summit’s organisers. “Consumers look to our industry for sustainability solutions because metal recycles forever, and we recycle cans efficiently and at scale. We are very pleased to bring Brazil as an example for the whole world, achieving recycling rates in average above 98 per cent for more than 15 years.”
Brazil leads the global charge with its recycling rates and much of this is down to informal waste pickers, something which was commended by GZ’s recycling team lead, Chukwuma Ndigwe, during the third panel of the Summit. He noted that Africa also relies on this informal system and that “scavengers rule” in terms of collecting beverage cans. However, “there are no formal data sets or government regulation for this,” he noted, adding that the continent does not want to scrap this informal system but refine it to bring in more capital. There is currently no African DRS; there are collection points, Ndigwe said, but they are few and far between – although Nigeria has reverse vending machines that GZ works on, as well as educating school children about the importance of recycling beverage cans.
Another country just behind Brazil in its recycling rate success is Japan, with 94 per cent. No formal DRS exists here but a “soft EPR” has been implemented, explained Kenji Nose, head of the technology working group on the aluminium beverage can committee of the Japan Aluminium Association. He illustrated the crucial importance education plays in Japan; recycling is taught to school children through activities, and colourful bin signage holds the key to informing the public about which materials to recycle and how. In fact, schools and neighbourhood associations account for a higher voluntary collection rate of aluminium beverage cans (145,000 tons) compared to public collection (125,000 tons). This has all helped to contribute to a 77 per cent reduction in landfill in the country over the past 30 years, Nose said.
The US, by contrast, currently holds one of the lowest recycling rates globally, standing at 45 per cent. The Recycling Partnership’s CEO, Keefe Harrison, noted that only two million US households have “proper” recycling structures, and that the “discrepancy among states is incredibly challenging,” but that the Partnership has helped to pass EPR in five states thus far.
Harrison discussed recent data which covered a decade’s worth of information about how consumers in the US recycle geographically, broken own by state. From this data, linchpin cities have been identified as Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Lubbock, Phoenix and New Orleans. Because there are strong end markets yet limited recycling in these cities, they could be critical for unlocking their surrounding regions. According to the Partnership, by focusing on access, engagement processing in these areas, the greater regions could likely see increased recovery of recyclables.
Image: James Archer Photography
Avoiding greenwashing
All panel members and speakers at the Summit agreed that educating consumers about the benefits of aluminium is key to the sector’s success. Dan Murray, director of development at creative charity, Hubbub, stressed that consistency is key to maintaining engagement. He said that the “average person needs to be told something a total of seven times before the meaning fully sinks in,” so messaging needs to be standardised, simple, clear and concise.
However, there are challenges involved in this. Illana Adamson, founder and CEO of Be Better, and Sophie Kemp, partner at London-based law firm, Kingsley Napley, discussed how the industry can best communicate metal can recycling and/ or sustainability claims without greenwashing – a topic that has become prevalent during the past few years. Kemp explained some of the regulations that have come to the fore in the UK, Europe, US and Canada such as the GB Energy Labelling Regulation 2017, the European Directive on Green Claims which was passed into law in April 2024, updates in the US to the Federal Trade Commission Green Guides and Canada’s CSA Climate-Related Disclosure Rules.
She used examples of companies like Coca-Cola, Danone and Nestlé, who have recently faced litigation for certain green claims on the recyclability of their water bottles. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), backed by Client Earth, highlighted that claims such as “100 per cent recyclable” and “100 per cent recycled” can be misleading and do not align with the actual recyclability rates of the companies’ products.
Even “metal recycles forever,” which is a pillar statement used in the metal packaging industry, can lead to consumer misunderstanding and risk of litigation if presented without full context and without considering the full lifecycle of the product, said Adamson. While greenwashing is a complex topic, she emphasised that there is greater risk to a business if its sustainability department is lacking. Often, a large business might only have one person in a sustainability role – this should not be the case, said Adamson, who urged businesses to craft a robust, competent team to work on communicating green claims, supported by up-to-date facts and figures on the company’s sustainability operations.
Creating the ideal vision
A highlight of the Summit was an activity on 2 October, which allowed all attendees to demonstrate their collective expertise and passion by workshopping an ultimate vision statement for the aluminium industry. We were split into four groups, with two industry experts per group acting as facilitators to the discussions, to create a statement that encapsulated what we believed was the most crucial path for the future of aluminium. We were to note three KPIs, as well as some of the enablers and challenges involved in achieving our goal. After the discussion, we were to nominate one or two people per group to present the vision statement to the rest of the Summit attendees.
In Group 3, facilitated by the International Aluminium Institute’s Miles Prosser and Metal Packaging Europe’s Krassimira Kazashka, our vision was to achieve full circularity and net zero by 2040, with metal being the consumer’s top packaging of choice globally. Our KPIs would be can-tocan recycling rates, full compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) across the value chain, as well as implementing cradle-to-grave lifecycle assessments. Other groups presented visions in a similar vein, but the most overarching goal was for metal to become the packaging of choice, which will involve more widespread education with a more standardised communication approach worldwide.
In closing remarks, Miles Prosser also noted that other issues such as encouraging biodiversity, limiting water usage and enhancing social responsibility are worth putting effort and focus into. Overall, the Summit reaffirmed the need for increased global standardisation on how the aluminium industry reports sustainability data and calculates recycled content. It is clear none of this will be achievable without investments in efficient green technology, the right people and global partnerships.
Artist drawing of ideas discussed about best practices in sustainability reporting. Image: Liam Callebout, Live Illustration
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