Product ... Aluminum
Company ... Novelis

Sector Focus: Beverage Can

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Sector Focus: Beverage Can

In an ever more carbon- and resource-constrained world, aluminum beverage cans offer many sustainability advantages over other materials. Their light weight cuts down on the energy required to ship them. They are also 100% recyclable; used beverage cans are melted down and turned into a new can inexpensively and efficiently, with a “can-to-can” cycle of about 60 days. It’s a good start – but Novelis is not content to stop there. That’s why we are working to re-engineer a 100% recyclable, up to 100% recycled aluminum can of the future.

IMAGE Group of evercan beverage cans

We’re Adding…Innovation & Technological Expertise

While aluminum cans are something many take for granted, for Novelis they are the subject of ongoing technical refinement and innovation. We deliver industry-leading technological expertise and facilities via our applied can technology laboratories around the world. And our own can pilot line at our Global Research & Technology Center has been invaluable in enabling us to quickly and efficiently develop and test customized solutions for customers.

Consumer Insights

In 2014, we commissioned consumer market research, in partnership with Forum for the Future, to help us refine our understanding of consumer views regarding recycled content in consumer products. The research showed that consumers react positively toward companies that use sustainable packaging, and they would consider switching to a comparable brand that offered a more sustainable option (see Consumer Viewpoints on Sustainability).

The World’s Largest Recycling Network

Novelis is not only the world’s largest producer of beverage can sheet, but also the world’s largest recycler of aluminum beverage cans. We recycle approximately 50 billion UBCs per year. Novelis operates aluminum beverage can recycling facilities on four continents and drives increased recycling of cans across the globe. Our recycling efforts are a key part of achieving our goal of using 80% recycled inputs by 2020 – and helping close the loop in the aluminum can market.

We’re Creating… A Smaller Carbon Footprint for Our Customers

Like Novelis, our beverage can customers are actively working to reduce the carbon footprint of their products. As we implement our recycling strategy, we are dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of not only our products, but our customers’ products as well. And the impact is significant: At our target of 80% recycled content and high end-of-life recycling, our can sheet will generate 2.5 metric tons of CO2 per metric ton of product – 75% less CO2 than if there were no recycling.

Solutions to Improve Today’s Can

We are continually working to improve the design, profile and attributes of today’s aluminum can. For example, we are exploring opportunities to further “down-gauge,” meaning use less material, while maintaining or improving performance. We also worked with our customers to develop a laminate can-end coating that takes significantly less energy to produce than the traditional liquid coatings. And we are focused on innovations to secure – and expand – the future success of aluminum cans, such as re-sealable aluminum bottles.

Tomorrow’s Ultimate Sustainable Package

With the introduction of the first generation evercan™ – independently certified can body sheet to be made of at least 90% recycled material – Novelis has taken a critical step toward our ultimate goal: a can made with up to 100% recycled material. We will progress our alloy development, can design and recycling capability to enable this.

23 million metric tons reduction in GHG emissions for can production globally if all cans were made from 100% recycled aluminum, instead of the current average of about 50% – equivalent to eliminating the emissions from more than 4.4 million automobiles every year

Reinventing the Aluminum Can with evercan™

Aluminum beverage cans are already 100% recyclable, but to fully close the loop they need to be made from 100% recycled content – a technical challenge that requires evolving the design specifications of today’s can. Novelis has been hard at work doing just that. Our recently launched evercan aluminum beverage can sheet is:

The world’s first independently certified, high-recycled-content aluminum beverage can sheet – certified by SCS Global Services, a trusted leader in environmental, sustainability and food quality certification, auditing, testing and standards development.

Certified to contain at least 90% recycled content – the highest guaranteed recycled content aluminum can sheet available today – which, when combined with the can ends during the can-making process, enables the creation of a beverage container containing a minimum of 70% recycled aluminum.

Industry standard aluminum can body sheet – meets all current beverage can-making requirements – that helps our beverage can customers and their supply chain partners lower their carbon footprints, and enables environmentally conscious consumers to purchase low-carbon-footprint products.

Bringing evercan™ to Store Shelves Red Hare logo

In 2014, Red Hare Brewing Company announced it would package its craft beer exclusively in cans made of Novelis’ evercan aluminum sheet, marking the commercial debut of evercan, the world’s first independently certified, high-recycled-content aluminum sheet for beverage cans. Red Hare, based in Georgia, is one of the fastest-growing micro-breweries in the United States. The company selected evercan aluminum as part of its commitment to reduce its environmental footprint, while preserving the freshness and enhancing the taste of its beer.

“Novelis’ evercan is a perfect fit for Red Hare,” noted Roger Davis, founder and CEO of Red Hare. “The independent certification of the closed-loop recycling process behind evercan strengthens our commitment to employing the best in sustainable business practices, making evercan a natural extension of the Red Hare brand.”

Red Hare was the first craft brewery in Georgia to package its products in aluminum cans, following a trend in the micro-brewery industry to move from bottles to cans as a way to expand distribution and appeal to consumers. Nearly 400 craft brewers in nearly every state in the United States are canning more than 1,300 different beers.