The total number of aluminium beverage cans consumed in Europe rose from 28.3 (2006) to 32.0 billion units in 2007, resulting in an overall aluminium share of nearly 70% in Europe. In Western-Europe consumers use on average 40 aluminium cans per capita. The consumption of aluminium cans in Central & Eastern Europe grew by 2.5 billion units to a total number 12.5 billion cans, an increase of 25% compared to the year 2006.

The aluminium beverage can market grew in particular in Northern and Eastern-Europe, while several Western-European countries such as France, Spain, Greece and Germany demonstrated solid growth rates. The total market including Central & Eastern Europe grew by 14% to more than 37 billion aluminium cans produced. This includes also exports to non-European countries.

While the Northern-European deposit schemes maintained or even increased their high recycling levels, countries with mixed waste and separate metal packaging waste collection schemes further improved as well due to better collection and innovative sorting and recycling techniques. Countries such as the Netherlands, which rely heavily on the incineration of unsorted household waste, have invested in aluminium collection from bottom ashes and booked considerable progress. According to Maarten Labberton, Managing Director of the EAA, his association is confident that due to the high scrap value of aluminium and the environmental advantages of recycling, rates in Europe will further increase.

In its report, EAA recommends authorities and waste management operators to invest more in the latest available sorting and recycling technologies as pay-back times are relatively short given the high scrap value of well sorted aluminium, even in difficult economic times.

Acknowledgement

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