Aluminum’s New Recycling Mission

The Aluminum Association recently announced an effort to increase aluminum recycling industry-wide by almost 20 percent.

The association hopes to hit a 75 percent recycling rate by 2015; today, the current recycling rate is approximately 54 percent. Although aluminum cans are the most highly recycled beverage containers in the country, the Aluminum Association estimates that over 50 billion cans are trashed in the U.S. annually.

By raising the recycling rate, the Aluminum Association aims to:

• Save 139.7 million MBTUs in energy annually
• Avoid nearly 9 million tons of greenhouse gases (equivalent to removing over 1.6 million cars from the roads each year)

“It is time that we aggressively advance a multi-tiered approach and work with other stakeholders to achieve higher recycling rates,” said Martha Finn Brooks, president and COO of Novelis Inc. “This metal is too valuable, from both an economic and environmental point of view, not to recover.”

To achieve this goal, the organization is hoping to:

• Grow and strengthen voluntary recycling programs, such as curbside recycling initiatives
• Consider deposit legislation as an option for all beverage containers. States that have deposit rates have twice the recycling rate of states that do not.
• Explore the roles of mandatory recycling programs and landfill bans
• Recognize the benefits of recycling in any potential climate change policies

Aluminum is infinitely recyclable, with applications in a myriad of industries, from beverages to automobiles. From recycling collection to shelf, it takes approximately 60 days for a used aluminum can to become a new one.