Novelis, an aluminum rolling and recycling company, has committed to convert all of its beverage can body sheet production to its evercan™ sheet, the world’s first certified high-recycled content aluminum for beverage cans, by the end of 2017.
This means that all can body sheet produced by Novelis will be certified 90 percent recycled content, compared to the global industry average of 50 percent.
Available worldwide, evercan sheet is produced in Novelis facilities in North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Novelis’ evercan can body sheet is priced at the same levels as standard beverage can sheet and there is no difference in quality, technical characteristics or run-speed at customer plants between evercan and standard sheet.
To encourage broad adoption across the market, Novelis will assist other aluminum manufacturers by sharing knowledge of the process to certify high-recycled content beverage sheet using the methodology of Scientific Certification Services (SCS), a recognized leader in environmental auditing that certifies evercan’s high-recycled content.
SCS has also recently certified high-recycled content can end sheet production in North America in addition to can body sheet. Can end sheet is used to form the tops of cans. The evercan end sheet will be available globally next year.
According to a survey by Forum for the Future, 62 percent of consumers say they would feel negatively toward brands that do not use sustainable packaging, and 90 percent are prepared to boycott brands they consider to be acting irresponsibly. The survey also found consumers say changes in operations (e.g., sourcing material more responsibly and reducing the environmental impact of factories) should be the top priority for companies when it comes to sustainability efforts.
Since 2011, Novelis has announced capital investments of close to $500 million that will double the company’s global recycling capacity to 2.1 million metric tons by 2015. Recycling aluminum saves 95 percent of the energy and emissions associated with the production of primary metal.
Published in the December 2014 Edition of American Recycler News
