This is what emerges from the results of the annual meeting of Cial
In 2022, 73.6% of the aluminum packaging placed on the market was recycled (or 60,200 tonnes) and, with energy recovery, the total recovered overall grows and approaches 78%. The recycling rate of aluminum packaging in Italy has therefore already far exceeded the targets for 2025 (50%) and 2030 (60%). This is what emerges from the results of the annual meeting of Cial-National Aluminum Packaging Consortium, held on 12 May in Milan.
Important numbers that have made it possible to avoid greenhouse emissions equal to 423,000 tons of CO2 and save energy for over 185,000 tons of oil equivalent.
CAN RECYCLING – The efficiency and effectiveness of the Italian separate collection and recycling system is even more evident if we consider the cross-section of the recycling rate for aluminum beverage cans which for 2022 is equal to 91.6 %, in line with that of countries whose systems are based on deposits and far higher than the average European recycling rate of 73%.
“For aluminum packaging, the ‘disposable’ concept is surpassed and the ‘use and recycle’ concept is increasingly affirmed, just as the ‘single-use’ concept, generically associated with the packaging sector, is not suitable for aluminum packaging , material by nature available for ‘infinite use’. These are two paradigm shifts that very well express the nature and mission of the Italian aluminum packaging management system”, declares Carmine Bruno Rea, president of Cial (recently appointed Board Member of Conai – National Packaging Consortium representing the aluminum supply chain , manufacturers category).
“Aluminium is easy to collect and to recycle and we in Italy do it very well. The results demonstrate this – continues Rea – but it is also useful to underline how much aluminum is the ideal material for the production of packaging (drink cans, food cans, aerosol cans, tubes, trays, thin foil in rolls and for wrappers, caps, closures and capsules for coffee, etc…) because it is light, malleable, resistant to impact and corrosion and is able to guarantee a barrier effect that protects from light, air, humidity and bacteria therefore, in line with the very high standards required in the food and beverage sectors for a long and safe conservation, to protect human health and with an essential contribution to the prevention of the formation of organic waste and the reduction of food waste and scraps. All elements that make aluminum packaging increasingly consistent with the principles of Prevention and therefore with the policies and socio-economic development models of the Green Economy”.
Cial numbers in 2022: 243 member companies; 430 affiliated operators, 246 platforms and 12 foundries throughout the country guarantee the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of aluminium; 5,547 Municipalities (70% of active Italian Municipalities) collaborate with Cial in the separate collection of aluminum packaging, as part of the Anci-Conai Framework Agreement, throughout the national territory with 46.5 million citizens involved (79% of the Italian inhabitants served); quantity of aluminum packaging placed on the Italian market: 81,800 tons; total recovery of aluminum packaging in Italy (recycling share + share of packaging sent for energy recovery), 63,600 tons: recycling (60,200 tons of aluminum packaging, equal to 73.6% of the market), energy recovery (3,400 tons, portion of thin packaging that goes to the waste-to-energy plant); thanks to the recycling of 60,200 tons of aluminum packaging, greenhouse emissions equal to 423,000 tons of CO2 were avoided and energy saved for over 185,000 tons of oil equivalent.
Source-www.adnkronos.com