· 8.5 billion drinks cans are consumed in the UK every year · 23.5 million are consumed in the UK every day

Environmental Benefits

· Drinks cans are infinitely renewable

Metal doesn’t lose any of its core properties when it is recycled. Therefore it can be used again and again to make more drinks cans but also other vital items for everyday life such as cars, bikes, planes and buildings. This is in stark contrast to other packaging materials – paper, board and plastics – where recycled material is a lower quality having lost some of its original properties.

Every part of a drinks can is recyclable (100% recyclable). So not only can the recycled metal be used repeatedly (infinitely recyclable), but there is no wastage from the process. There is no label, no cap or anything else that either can’t be recycled or can’t be recycled at the same site, further reducing wastage and excess transportation costs as with other forms of packaging.

· Drinks cans are refreshing

Drinks cans allow the product to stay cool, carbonated and refreshing for longer.

· Drinks cans are modern

The can has been around for over 70 years but designs have changed to keep the can modern. It is also good for the environment.

· Recycling drinks cans saves energy

A recycled drinks can saves enough energy to run a TV or power a 60W light bulb for 2 hours. Also, using recycled metal uses approximately 75% less energy than making products from virgin material.

· Recycling is easy

Can recycling is easy. Many local authorities have kerbside collection schemes in place and the number is growing all the time. Furthermore there are thousands of can banks in towns across the country making recycling your cans as easy as putting out the rubbish.

We already recycle approximately a third of our drinks cans but there is therefore a lot more we could be doing.

A metal can given for recycling can be made into a new can, filled and be back on shelf within 6 weeks.

Recycled drinks cans can be made into:

· New cans
· Airplanes
· Cars
· Bikes
· Structural steel for buildings, bridges etc
· Cooking utensils (as in Nepal)
· Etc,etc

Quirky Facts

Of all cans produced in UK each year:
· If poured out –
    · Would fill 1,026 Olympic swimming pools
· If laid end to end (ave 10cm length) –
    · Would stretch around the globe 19 times (24,900 miles per circuit)
    · Would recreate the Great wall of China 130 times (6,000 kms per wall)
· If stacked (ave 10cm height) –
    · Would reach the moon and back (238,000 miles total journey)
    · Would build 3 million Canary Wharfs (800ft per tower)

Why should we recycle more?

· Every year the average UK dustbin contains enough unrealised energy for 500 baths, 3500 showers or 5,000 hours of TV.

· On average every person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every 7 weeks.

· In less than 2 hours the UK produces enough waste to fill the Albert Hall.

How drinks cans are made

Manufacturing cans is a high precision process and this is illustrated in a simplified way below.

The Can

1.Aluminium or steel strip arrives at the can manufacturing plant in huge coils.
2.The strip is lubricated with a thin film of oil and then fed continuously through a cupping press which blanks and draws thousands of shallow cups every minute.
3.Each cup is rammed through a series of tungsten carbide rings. This is the ironing process which redraws and literally thins and raises the walls of the cans into their final can shape.
4.Trimmers remove the surplus irregular edge and cut each can to a precise, specific height. The surplus material is recycled.
5.The trimmed can bodies are passed through highly efficient washers and then dried. This removes all traces of oil in preparation for coating internally and externally.
6.The clean cans are coated externally with a clear or pigment base coat which forms a good surface for the printing inks.
7.The cans pass through a hot air oven to dry the lacquer.
8.The next step is a highly sophisticated printer/decorator which applies the printed design in up to six colours, plus a varnish.
9.A coat of varnish is also applied to the base of each can by a rim-coater.
10.The cans pass through a second oven which dries the inks and varnish.
11.The inside of each can is sprayed with lacquer. This special layer is to protect the can itself from corrosion and its contents from any possibility of interaction with the metal.
12.Once again, lacquered internal and external surfaces are dried in an oven.
13.The cans are passed through a necker/flanger. Here the diameter of the wall is reduced or 'necked-in'. The top of the can is flanged outwards to accept the end once the can has been filled.
14.Every can is tested at each stage of manufacture. At the final stage it passes through a light tester which automatically rejects any cans with pinholes or fractures.
15.The finished can bodies are then transferred to the warehouse to be automatically palletised before dispatch to filling plant.

The Can End

1.Can end manufacture begins with a coil of special alloy aluminum sheet.
2.The sheet is fed through a press which stamps out thousands of ends every minute.
3.At the same stage the edges are curled.
4.The newly formed ends are passed through a lining machine which applies a very precise bead of compound sealant around the inside of the curl.
5.A video inspection system checks the ends to ensure they are perfect. TAB.The pull tabs are made from a narrow width coil of aluminum. The strip is first pierced and cut and the tab is formed in two further stages before being joined to the can end.
6.The ends pass through a series of dies which score them and attach the tabs, which are fed in from a separate source.
7.The final product is the retained ring pull end.
8.The finished ends, ready for capping the filled cans, are packaged in paper sleeves and palletised for shipment to the can filler.
Drinks cans and retained ring pull ends are delivered to the customer for filling and sealing.

How drinks cans are filled

1.Finished can bodies are palletised and dispatched from the can manufacturing plant. Meanwhile packaging is returned to the can manufacturer and reused many times.
2.At the same time, the can ends are packaged in paper sleeves and palletised for shipment to the can filler.
3.Once they arrive, can bodies go through a depalletiser. The machine operator registers numbers/codes from pallets to ensure they can be traced back to source if needs be, at a later date.
4.Cans are then mass combined and sent to the filling machine at speed through the use of 'high-tech' air conveyors.
5.Cans are inverted through 180 degrees and go through an extensive cleaning process using high pressure air and water.
6.Once they are thoroughly cleaned, the cans are then inverted another 180 degrees, returning them to their upright position.
7.Cans are then immediately passed into a covered filler section, ensuring no further chance of contamination.
8.The newly washed cans pass through a gassing system where they are filled with CO2. This special process extracts all air from the can.
9.At this stage any low juice drinks will be flash pasteurised through heating and cooling the syrup immediately prior to filling.
10.Up to 2000 cans per minute are then filled with the beverage.
11.The cans leave the filler and pass directly into a seamer where the can ends are fed from a separate source.
12.All remaining air is displaced through a further injection of CO2 (or liquid nitrogen in the case of still drinks) and immediately mechanically sealed.
13.An interlocking seam is formed at high speed. Up to 2000 cans go through the process each minute.
14.Beer and high juice drinks will be pasteurised through an 'in-can' pasturiser using variable temperature water jets.
15.The can then passes from the line and through a detector where any incorrectly filled cans are rejected.
16.The filled cans then go through a coding process where details of the filling date and 'best before' date are printed on the can.
17.Subject to their use, cans are then put into multipack format or single tray.
18.Cans are then shrink wrapped, palletised and dispatched to the distributor or retailer.
19.Throughout the process it is estimated that the can will travel about one mile around the factory.