Recycling rate matters

08/03/10

It's the recycling rate that matters - let's tell them why

With the pressure on to increase the recycled content in packaging materials, steel has to shout about its credentials. Nick Mullen, head of the UK's Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA) is there to turn up the volume. Is metal packaging too sustainable for its own good? Nick Mullen thinks so. "Metal is getting caught up in initiatives and regulatory activities that are really designed to try to manage the less environmentally-friendly materials in the packaging waste stream," says the director of the MPMA.

The Courtauld Commitment
In 2005, UK brand owners and retailers (at the instigation of government) entered into a voluntary agreement to reduce the weight of packaging by up to 25% over the following five years. The aim was to reduce the amount of packaging waste going to landfill. Under this Courtauld Commitment, glass, some plastics, cartons and cardboard have reduced in weight. Metal for packaging, meanwhile, has continued the lightweighting process that has been underway since the first cans were made.

Continuous lightweighting
Over the last 20 years, the weight of the average steel can has fallen by 33%. With this track record, the margins for realistic further reductions are slimmer. The metal packaging industry appears to be behind, when in fact it is ahead. "We have an excellent story to tell on lightweighting and recycling rates. We have a well-established system in place, with kerbside recovery and easy separation - probably better than any other packaging medium," says Nick Mullen.

The challenge is to communicate this. Retailers, signatories to the Courtauld Commitment, are also under commercial pressure. Choosing lighter-weight packaging from competitive materials may appear an easy way to meet the commitment. But this is a knee-jerk reaction that ignores the bigger sustainability picture and may not help to meet the landfill objectives. Recycling must be recognised as the best strategy to reduce packaging waste to landfill.

Changing perception
Metals can make a very strong sustainability case indeed. The MPMA is demonstrating this with a striking marketing campaign to remind decision makers about the fundamental advantages of metal packaging. Following environment-themed advertorials in the leading UK retail magazine, The Grocer, a bright new advertising campaign has been launched to coincide with the annual purchasing. It's the Recycling and ordering cycle. Mailshots are also directly targeting retailers. And a new website, canfacts.org.uk, sets out all the relevant statistics clearly.

New focus on recycled content
The original Courtauld Commitment ends in March 2010. Discussions with retailers and brand owners are underway to shape a new agreement. Whilst weight will still be a major factor, as will carbon, it seems that the percentage of recycled content in each piece of packaging will become more important. This is a concern for steel packaging. Despite being 100% and infinitely recyclable, with excellent recovery rates, stating the percentage of recycled content in each piece of packaging presents the metals industry with a big challenge. Steel manufacturing is a homogenous process built around recycling. Scrap from bridges, cars or cans is converted into new material and it is not relevant to identify which material goes into which product. What matters is increasing the overall pool of scrap.

Currently the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (Apeal) says a figure of 56% recycled content may be used with certainty for steel produced in Europe. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for, say, a retailer to demand to see an improvement in a can's recycled content. "To increase proven recycled content in metal packaging, could, theoretically, be done, but it would involve so much change in basic metal production it would not have any carbon benefits overall. In fact it would mean the opposite. It's crazy to move recycled material around within the overall production process to meet one application's need," says Nick Mullen.

Sustaining the market together
The MPMA is in discussion through the UK Packaging Federation and various government agencies involved in the likely new commitment. It aims to get the vital message across that it is not the recycling content of packaging that is relevant, but recycling rate. "Corus has been an important contributor to our supply chain position," says Nick Mullen. "At our Sustainability Commercial Workshop earlier this year, Corus was instrumental in giving support to and shaping the issues for us as an industry body. On a European level, through its connections with fellow European steel manufacturers, with Apeal and with the European metal packaging organisation Empac, Corus is helping the industry to tackle the issues jointly and ensure retailers understand the wider issues."

"The whole steel packaging supply chain needs to be involved in shaping ‘Courtauld II.' The sector group which successfully tackled the carbon issues our industry faced last year in 2008 has been re-formed. Our goal is to agree courses of action to secure metal packaging's position positively under the proposed Courtauld II Commitment so its sustainability credentials are recognised."

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