The new recycling figures have been introduced by the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL) for use in post-consumer steel packaging scrap.
APEAL has showed that the recycling of 71% of steel packaging in Europe has been done during 2010. Eunomia, the energy and waste specialist consultancy based in UK, has reviewed the data sources and methodology used in the computation of these figures and has validated the reliability of the results.
These recycling figures are among the primary 2010 figures to be unveiled in the packaging materials industry. Through compilation and release of figures before the other materials, the steel packaging industry has shown a strong confidence of recycling along with steel, wherein steel is the recycled packaging material mainly used in Europe.
The commitment of the steel packaging industry is to increase the rates of recycling and concentrates on the long-term aim of metal packaging in Europe for reaching 80% of recycling rate and landfill with no metal can by 2020. For instance, Germany attained 93.8% of recycling rate in 2012 and has not gone under 90% since 1997, wherein the national target was 70%.
In 2012, steel has become the most recycled and most recyclable packaging material in Europe. Certainly, there has been a threefold increase in steel usage in the last 20 years.
Steel can be recycled into innovative packaging applications and further products. It will not lose its qualities and strength, irrespective of the number of times being recycled. As steel is magnetic, it cane be isolated easily from other domestic waste. Ferrous scrap is an essential portion in the steel production.
Recycling of steel packaging reduces the emission of carbon dioxide. In Europe, recycling of approximately 2.5 Mt of steel food and beverage packaging is done and prevents yearly emission of nearly 4 Mt of CO2.