Aluminium can recycling hits record high

The company said 160 million aluminium drinks cans delivered to its Warrington plant broke the previous record, set in June 2006.

The record was broken despite the wet weather and without a major football tournament – the previous record came in the middle of the World Cup. Novelis said collection volumes for aluminium cans have been growing year-on-year, with this year on course to beat 2006 figures, when a 48% recycling rate was achieved.

It suggested the widespread introduction of kerbside recycling services was the explanation for the growing collection volumes.

Novelis Recycling national manager Andy Doran said: “In the past, volumes were very closely tied to seasonal factors, like the summer months of the Christmas holiday. While these are still peak periods for canned drink consumption, the fact that the collection infrastructure has widened means the supply of material is much steadier.

“So despite record rainfall and cool temperatures, it's great to be able to report a record-breaking month,” Mr Doran added.

Quality

Novelis is one of the reprocessors backing this year's Campaign for Real Recycling, which wants to see an end to the collection of all recyclable materials together, pushing for only “appropriate” materials to be collected in commingled form.

Mr Doran said material being collected at the kerbside has, in some cases, “struggled to achieve our specification”. However, he said Novelis was now making “significant progress” in working with its can suppliers to raise the quality of supplied cans.

“We are committed to working in partnership with our suppliers, offering advice and support to help them achieve the maximum value from their aluminium, and our efforts will continue,” he said.

• The Campaign for Real Recycling has hailed the achievement of Carrickfergus council in increasing its recycling rates by 76% with a new source-separated kerbside recycling scheme (see letsrecycle.com story). “This clear evidence debunks the myth that collecting commingled means diverting higher tonnage and faster,” said the campaign's co-ordinator, Andy Moore.