Demonstrated Environmental Integrity
Did you know?
• The steel can is America’s most recycled container
• Steel has the highest recycling rates of any packaging material in the U.S.
• Hermetic cans (like coffee cans) offer 100% protection against gas, oxygen, light, moisture or other contamination
• Steel is recycled an infinite number of times without loss of strength or durability
• When you buy steel, you are ALWAYS buying recycled
• Every minute, approximately 20,000 cans are recycled in the United States
• If every American recycled just two food cans this year, we would save the equivalent of 10 million gallons of gasoline
• Consumers can recycle food cans as well as paint cans and aerosol cans
• Tin cans can be stacked high on pallets without damage to the package or its contents. This reduces the need for secondary packaging that could end up in landfills. Storage efficiency and transportation costs can also be reduced as a result of stack-ability
• Consumers are demanding that packaging be more than just a pretty face—not only must it protect its contents, be tamper evident, convenient and convey personality but it must also be durable, sustainable and not drain environmental resources. Tin packaging fulfills all of these requirements and more
Green products. Green business practices
Long before it was deemed fashionable or made a requirement to comply with regulations, Allstate Can had environmental policies in place for all aspects of the business. Assessing environmental impact plays a tremendous role in day-to-day operations with the products Allstate produces and extends to manufacturing procedures, facilities management, personnel management, training, procurement of raw goods and energy consumption. Allstate reclaims and recycles 100% of the steel not used for production.
Consumers consider a product and its packaging with concern for whether it can be reused or recycled and whether it’s made from recycled materials. Allstate’s tins provide your customer assurance that they are able to extend the package’s use, recycle and divert it from the landfill. Steel cans are a smart and responsible solution to the ever-increasing consumer demand for green products and packaging.
Steel packaging is easy to collect, sort and recycle because of its magnetic quality. It can be recycled an infinite number of times without loss of durability or strength. Recovered metal feeds the production cycle—it isn’t waste—an infinite recycling loop can be created with no “down-cycling”.
Using recycled steel also saves energy. Compared to production from virgin raw materials, producing steel exclusively from scrap requires 75% less energy. Using recycled material, the steel industry saves enough energy in one year to electrically power more than 18 million homes for one year. The amount of recycled steel recovered in 2005 through packaging (more than 1.4 million tons) would yield enough steel to build 185,000 steel framed homes.
Each can recycled substantially reduces the environmental footprint of the next can, and recycled cans are back on the shelf in as little as 60 days. Americans could save more than $3 billion worth of energy each year by recycling cans.
High & Mighty
Many products need extensive extra packaging to make it to store shelves without damage. Tin cans, on the other hand, can be stacked high without causing damage to the package or its contents. Cans reduce the need for secondary packaging that could end up in landfills. Storage efficiency may be improved and transportation costs may also be reduced.
According to the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association “strength is one of the can’s greatest assets and contributes greatly to its sustainability credentials”.