Aluminium can industry disproves Coca-Cola’s claim of plastic bottles having a lesser carbon footprint

A week ago, the aluminium can industry reportedly disproved Coca-Cola’s claim that recycled PET bottles have a much lower carbon footprint than the aluminium cans.

The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) said the carbon footprint of both PET bottles and aluminium cans are comparable, claiming that aluminium cans perform significantly better than the plastic PET bottle on critical sustainability metrics, including recycling rate, recycled content and economic value.

CMI President Robert Budway said, “The average aluminium can in the United States has a recycled content of 73%. This is significantly higher than plastic PET bottles in the United States, which have less than 10% recycled content.”

He also said, “Most all recycled cans being transformed into new cans have a positive environmental impact. When an aluminium can is produced from recyclable material, it saves more than 90% of the energy used and greenhouse gas emissions produced in comparison to making that same aluminium can from virgin material.”

According to the CMI, the recycling rate of aluminium beverage cans in the US is 50 per cent and in Europe 75 per cent, whereas the recycling rate of PET bottles in the US is 26 per cent.

The CMI also pointed out that aluminium cans have a high economic value. A recent two-year average shows aluminium cans in the scrap market are worth more than four times PET bottles in the US.

Budway stated: “This high economic value means recyclers want the aluminium cans back so they can get desperately needed revenue to support the rest of the recycling system.  In other words, aluminium cans help support the recycling of many others less economically viable materials.”

“All these metrics together mean the beverage can is the only container that consumers can recycle with the confidence that their package will actually be recycled into a new, recyclable product and that their action will have a significant environmental impact,” Budway added.