APEA confirms packaging recycling trends in Europe

APEAL, the Packaging Association of European Steel Producers, shows that 2.7 million tonnes of steel containers were recycled in 2013, which corresponds to an average rate of 74% in Europe. This confirms the long-term trends in packaging recycling in Europe.

The recycling rate of steel containers has tripled over the past 20 years. This material remains the most efficiently recycled packaging material in Europe. Corrugated cardboard and corrugated packaging, mailboxes and pizza boxes and other cardboard products have a processing rate of 39%. Plastic, aluminum and glass have rates of 35%, 68% and 70%, respectively.

Alexander Mor, General Secretary, APEAL said that "While steel maintains its position as the most recyclable packaging material in Europe, there is still work to be done to accelerate the recycling rate to 80% by 2020." In the United States, the total recycling rate in 2013 was nearly 84 million tonnes of recycled steel. This included over 1.3 million tonnes of tinplate steel equivalent to 21 billion steel cans, which were recycled at a rate of 71%, the highest among packaging materials.

Steel is 100% recyclable. This process can be repeated indefinitely without losing key properties, ensuring the conservation of resources invested in production. The magnetic properties of the steel make it easy to separate from the waste, thus maintaining a high recovery rate. More than 1400 kilograms of iron ore, 740 kilograms of coal and 120 kilograms of limestone are stored on one ton of scrap steel.