At BrauBeviale 2018, Alex Clere spoke with Marcel Arsand, sustainability manager for Ball Corporation, about the company’s message on sustainability.
Arsand emphasised the need for a circular economy, and explained further how metal packaging can be the way forward.
“Not everybody knows that cans [are infinitely recyclable], and we haven’t promoted our cans as much in the past, so not a lot of people see cans as a solution for recyclability. We are really pushing the recycling infrastructure, we are helping campaigns all over europe to promote recycling to achieve more.”
In comparison to other types of packaging, Ball continues to promote how metal is infinitely recyclable, and Arsand explained further how even coloured and printed metal can still be recycled.
“Metal recycles forever, this is a message that not all other packagers can claim. Even if it is printed in different colours, it doesn’t matter, it gets recycled. if a can misses recycling and ends up in an incinerator, we can claim that back and recycle it for other applications. We do need to improve this and ensure that these credentials are strong in the consumer’s mind.”
Arsand went on to detail where and how consumers are interacting with canned beverages, acknowledging that the market must adapt to busy lifestyles and educate consumers who have more fast-paced needs to be met.
“We need to give consumers the incentive to recycle wherever they are. This does include the workplace, but also more recently places such as music events.
“People go to music events to have a good time, and cans are easy to chill and transport so consumers are already taking the initiative to purchase canned beverages. However, we must encourage them more to recycle afterwards.”
The interest in sustainability has grown in recent years, and customers are responding to consumer concerns in light of this.
“The game has changed completely recently. Customers want an alternative so we can offer this solution. The legislation is changing and putting more pressure on recyclability of packaging.
“‘Recyclable’ alone is not enough any more, it has to be ‘recycled’.”
Presented by: Alex Clere
Edited by: Harriet Jachec
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