The proportion of aluminium drinks cans recycled across Europe fell slightly in 2022, fresh data has revealed.
A report from key bodies on the continent showed that 74.6 per cent of the containers were reprocessed that year across the UK, the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
This was down one percentage point on the prior 12 months, according to Metal Packaging Europe and European Aluminium.
However, this dip was largely due to an increase in consumption of drinks in aluminium cans, the report found.
More of the metal containers entered the waste stream but, with no significant increase in collection or sorting levels, the recycling rate decreased.
Director of the packaging group at European Aluminium Andy Doran said: “Our continuing high recycling rates demonstrate our ongoing push for improvement.
“The recent results also show that this is a marathon, not a sprint. 2022 marked the beginning of a new phase of implementation for several deposit-return systems and as these mature, recycling rates will grow further.
“But there is no time to waste as our member companies continue to grow and invest in expanded recycling capacities in Europe and rely on increased high-quality scrap for recycling within the European circular economy”.
