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Beverage cans hold a strong position with popular brands due to their sustainability credentials, and due to metal’s rigid, puncture resistant, light-blocking characteristics. © Colleen Michaels – stock.adobe.com

Trendy Beverages Continue to Utilize Beverage Cans for Sustainability

By John Rost, Vice President – Global Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs at Crown

Natural energy drinks, hard seltzers, ready-to-drink cocktails, sparkling waters and healthier soda options — these beverage categories may seem all over the map, but lately they have one element in common: they’re packed in aluminum cans. When looking at the grocery store shelf these days, it’s evident that many of the trendiest beverage companies are consistently choosing metal packaging over other substrates.

Why the overwhelming adoption of cans — including a rate of 75% for new product launches in the format in North America? Brands are observing and listening to consumers, who are demonstrating their preferences for more sustainable goods through their purchasing patterns. Consumers continue to ask questions about where their products come from, what they are made of and how they impact the planet. Metal packaging helps brands satisfy these questions with a substrate that is inherently responsible and of lesser impact to the environment.

An Environmentally Friendly Profile

Beverage cans hold a strong position with popular brands due to their long list of natural sustainability credentials, along with the way they perform across various stages of the value chain.

Throughout travel from production site, to warehouse, to retailer and ultimately to the consumer, beverage cans offer strength and durability that helps ensure product protection and quality assurance thanks to metal’s rigid, puncture resistant, light-blocking characteristics. Brands, retailers and consumers can maintain greater confidence with metal packaging that their beverages are kept safe from tampering, product loss, quality degradation and other potential issues that could otherwise occur within transportation. In addition, beverage cans are easily stackable for efficient storage and shipping, contributing to lower energy consumption rates.

Once used, the beverage can take advantage of its infinite recyclability and — rather than reach an end-of-life stage — continue its circular life cycle. When successfully recycled by consumers or businesses and recovered from sorting facilities, the beverage can is able to be transformed into a new beverage can on the shelf within just 60 days — and when produced from recycled materials rather than virgin, saves over 95% of the energy required with production from new materials. This demonstrates that not only is it imperative for the beverage can to be saved from landfill at every opportunity simply to keep valuable materials in use and reduce unnecessary waste, but to cut down on energy usage and minimize the overall carbon footprint.

Furthermore, the beverage can continues to evolve and raise the bar for sustainability performance on top of an already impressive record. Due to investment in research and development and innovation from some manufacturers, the beverage can keeps becoming lighter and lighter in weight, reducing material consumption and waste and boosting the aforementioned energy-efficient shipping. This slim-down has been made possible even while maintaining high-speed production for large volumes and while supporting eye-catching inks, decorative finishes and other features that add shelf appeal.

Growing Format Appreciation

While the beverage can does boast unparalleled sustainability credentials today, it stands to benefit on an even larger scale when various players in the value chain work to utilize the format to its fullest potential. This collective effort includes brands heightening consumer awareness around package sustainability and transitioning more products to cans, as well as consumers taking better care to properly recycle their used packaging. Ultimately, education around packaging life cycle, greater access to recycling and more active collaboration across the beverage industry to advance sustainability initiatives will all contribute to an even leaner beverage can.

With these efforts in play and more momentum behind metal, the beverage market can come closer to its goals of stronger environmental stewardship and a smaller carbon footprint.

About the Author

John Rost joined Crown in 1997, progressing from Manager of Regulatory Affairs to Vice President of Global Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs. During his tenure at the Company, John established a global team ensuring Crown’s response to regulatory issues around the world met the highest standards and he was also instrumental in forming and leading the current Sustainability team that launched Crown’s Twenty-by-30 program in 2020. John serves on the Board of Governors for the Can Manufactures Institute and Metal Packaging Europe’s Beverage Board.  Learn more at: www.crowncork.com/beverage-packaging/essentials/benefits-beverage-cans