The Future of Aluminum Foil Container Recycling A Position Paper on Aluminum Foil Containers and the Environment

January 1992

A Position Paper on Aluminum Foil Containers and the Environment Overview Aluminum foil container manufacturers ask that you take a moment to consider pie plates, frozen food, and take-out food containers. These are a few of the products that the member companies of the Aluminum Foil Container Manufacturers Association (AFCMA) produce. One of the primary objectives of AFCMA, together with the aluminum industry, is to help consumers, municipalities, local governments, and waste haulers associate aluminum foil containers with a valuable resource -- aluminum -- a material that should be kept out of the solid waste stream and returned to aluminum companies for recycling. AFCMA has brought together the participants in the recycling process -- including aluminum foil container manufacturers, primary metals and waste services companies, and recycling centers -- to encourage aluminum foil container recycling. The Association has worked to educate consumers about the infinite recycluhility of aluminum foil containers, and has worked closely with the principal members of the aluminum industry to discuss how the industry as a whole can facilitate recycling of all aluminum products.

Why Aluminum Foil Containers? Often, discussions concerning the environmental impact of packaging neglect to consider the purpose and value of packaging, which is to efficiently deliver products to consumers. When it comes to convenience, performance, and recyclability, aluminum foil containers represent possibly the most efficient packaging system available on the market. Aluminum foil containers are light weight and durable and provide an impervious barrier to moisture and air. The versatility of aluminum foil containers allows food products to travel from food processor warehouse to grocery store to kitchen cupboard, and from freezer or refrigerator to conventional or microwave oven -- all in the same container. Aluminum foil containers are also 100-percentrecyclable. Americans are doing a terrific job recycling aluminum cans, but now it is time to boost recycling of other aluminum products, including aluminum foil containers. Not only can all aluminum products be recycled to manufacture new goods, but aluminum recycling encourages an efficient and conservative use of natural resources. In fact, there is a 95-percent energy savings in manufacturing aluminum products from recycled scrap as opposed to making such products from bauxite ore. The metal obtained from the recycling process is a valuable resource for the aluminum industry.

The Aluminum Industry and Recycling Years before the packaging industry addressed solid waste and recycling issues, the aluminum industry dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars in capital spending and promotion efforts to create the secondary market for aluminum and put the current post-consumer recycling infrastructure in place nationwide. Aluminum beverage can recycling has been and will continue to be thefinancial engine of recycling.

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Aluminum foil containers represent a small, but important, segment of the recyclable aluminum market. The aluminum industry and aluminum foil container manufacturers are committed to increasing the recovery of aluminum foil containers. At the same time, it makes sense to use the extensive recycling infrastructure already in place, including the collection, transportation, and processing arrangements for recapturing as much aluminum and aluminum foil scrap as possible.

Defining Environmental Acceptability Aluminum foil containers account for a tiny percentage of municipal solid waste. If all aluminum foil containers went to landfills, they would make up less than one-hundredth of one percent of municipal solid waste. However, it is the goal of the aluminum industry to recover as much post-consumer aluminum scrap as possible. As people have become more attuned to the impact products have on the environment, states

have embarked upon the task of defining products that are environmentally acceptable. More often that not, definitions revolve around recycling issues: whether a product is reusable, whether it has recycled content, and the rate at which it is recycled.

Recycled Content The aluminum industry wants to buy back all the clean, usable aluminum scrap offered, including aluminum foil containers, and will use the recycled aluminum in new products. Aluminum companies want the flexibility to use the aluminum scrap that they buy back in the most efficient and cost-effective aluminum product applications. To do this, it is not necessary to separate aluminum scrap by product category -- foil containers, foil wrap, lids, cans, and so forth, for recycling. This means that while the aluminum industry is committed to buying and using all aluminum and aluminum foil scrap, aluminum foil containers will not necessarily be used to make new aluminum foil containers. Currently, aluminum foil containers have a significant recycled process scrap content, but have minimal post-consumer scrap content. Aluminum scrap represented almost a third of the entire metal supply in 1990. This is a strong indication that there is no need for recycled content requirements to create a post-consumer market for aluminum products. It is therefore the position of AFCMA that recycled content laws should be limited to those materials that do not have an end marketfor their recycled material.

Recyclability Most state guidelines define the recyclability of a product or a material according to the rate of recycling that product or material has achieved within that state. For a recycling rate to be achieved, four things are necessary: an Industry infrastructure that can process and market the material; private or municipal recycling programs to collect the material; public awareness to encourage consumers to recycle the material; and a method to segregate and quantify the amount recycled. Aluminum recycling has the support of industry and a nationwide recycling infrastructure. Because of the relatively high market price that aluminum scrap commands, most recycling programs collect aluminum, especially aluminum cans. Some municipal and curbside recycling programs collect aluminum foil containers along with other recyclables, and some do not. A Waste Recyclers Council survey of its membership shows that 40 percent of respondents that

The Future of Aluminum Foil Container Recycling Summary Why aluminum foil containers? Aluminum foil containers -- such as bakery trays, pie plates, frozen food and take-out food containers -- represent basic, elemental packaging at its best, and are ideal for convenience food products. One of the most eficient packaging systems available, aluminum foil containers provide a natural barrier against moisture and air. Aluminum foil containers are versatile enough to be used in the conventional, toaster, or microwave ovens, direct from freezer or refrigerator.

Infinitely recyclable,aluminum foil containers present one of the most environmentally friendly packaging systems on the market.

Recycled content A recycling infrastructure and a competitive post-consumer market exist for all forms of clean aluminum scrap, including aluminum foil containers. Recycled content requirements are not needed to create a post-consumer market for aluminum products. The Aluminum Foil Container Manufacturers Association (AFCMA) supports the determination of recycling rates by material -- aluminum -- and not by product, and including aluminum foil containers in the aluminum material category.

Recyclability Aluminum foil container recycling will continue to increase as more and more recycling programs recognize the scrap value of aluminum, thefinancial engine of recycling. With a significant end market in place, municipal recycling programs are accelerating the recyclability of aluminum foil containers.

To assist municipal and private recycling programs, AFCMA is compiling a directory of existing secondary markets for post-consumer aluminum foil containers, and is educating consumers about container recyclability.

Commitment to recycling aluminum foil containers The aluminum industry is committed to increasing the recovery of used aluminum foil containers and keeping them out of the solid waste stream. AFCMA is working closely with the primary metals industry, waste services companies, municipal solid waste agencies, institutions, and recycling centers to facilitate aluminum foil container recycling. Aluminum foil container recycling conserves natural resources. There is a 95-percent energy savings in manufacturing aluminum products from recycled scrap as opposed to making products from bauxite ore.

For more information,call Julia Meretta, Sally Adelstein, or Paula Filipello at 3121337-7400.

operate curbside programs collect aluminum foil products, and 45 percent of respondents who operate recycling facilities accept foil products. A primary goal of AFCMA is to encourage greater collection of aluminum foil containers. To that end, the Association is working with the aluminum industry to develop a database of significant secondary markets for aluminum foil containers, which will serve as a resource for states, recycling centers, and municipalities in search of a market for aluminum foil containers. In the meantime, it is the position of AFCMA that recycling rates be determined by material -aluminum -- and not by product, and that aluminumfoil containers be included in an overall aluminum material category.

Conclusion The aluminum industry is committed to buying back all clean, usable aluminum scrap offered, for use in a variety of aluminum product applications. The aluminum industry and members of the Aluminum Foil Container Manufacturers Association are committed to increasing the recovery of used aluminum foil containers. Aluminum foil container recycling will continue to increase as recycling programs incorporate aluminum foil containers. To assist municipal and private recycling programs, the Association is compiling a state-by-state database of existing secondary markets for aluminum foil containers. With a significant end market in place, state mandates requiring recycling by local municipalities should include aluminum foil containers in their list of recyclables. Public programs should facilitate and promote the continued diversion of aluminum foil containers from the municipal solid waste stream. The Aluminum Foil Container Manufacturers Association will assist any municipality or private recycling center seeking an end market for aluminum foil containers.

For more information, please contact Julia Meretta or Sally Adelstein at 312/337-7400.