Although a slight drop (1%), the total amount of aluminium recycled from cans continued to increase to a record level of 580,000 tonnes, an increase of 10,000 tonnes (or 1.7%) on the previous year. This represents a total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions saving of 5.4 million tonnes of CO₂eq)
The increase in recycled aluminium volume reflects a higher overall consumption of aluminium beverage cans in 2022 which resulted in more cans entering the recycling stream. However, a stable collection and sorting level meant that the recycling rate percentage decreased slightly due to the larger rise in total can production and consumption.
Beverage can manufacturers (members of Metal Packaging Europe) and their aluminium suppliers (members of European Aluminium) remain resolved to increase the recycling rate at European level. However, the evidence is clear that without improved national collection and sorting infrastructure, specifically increases in the number of Deposit Return Systems, EU Member States will struggle to reach 90% recycling or more.
