Sustainability

Did you know that canned foods are one of the best ways to protect the environment by reducing waste, saving energy and preserving the planet’s natural resources? 

Recycling 

  • All food cans are made from either steel or aluminium  – a permanently available material which can be infinitely recycled with no loss of quality. 
  • Cans are 100% recyclable and could come back as another can in as little as six weeks or be remade into a bike, bridge or car. 
  • Cans are also easy to recycle as they are easy to separate from other waste materials. Magnetism is used to separate steel cans, whilst eddy currents simply lift aluminium cans from the conveyer belt in a materials recycling facility.
  • One hundred per cent of all collected steel is used again to make new steel. 
  • Using recycled steel saves up to seventy per cent energy. 
  • Each item of recycled steel packaging saves over one and a half times its weight in CO2
  • Recycling of one tonne of steel scrap saves over two tonnes of raw materials and 1.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
  • CO2 emissions from steel production have almost halved from 1986 to 2016. 
  • Every recycled can saves energy: the same amount required to power 24 hours of a 10W energy-efficient LED light bulb.
  • There are over 2.5 billion cans recycled in the UK each year, that’s a saving of 125,000 tonnes of solid waste.  Stretched end to end, these recycled cans would stretch three-quarters of the way around the Earth!
  • By recycling a single steel can you save energy equivalent to one laundry load and one hour of watching TV. 
  • New generation steel food cans weigh as little as 41g, that’s 46% lighter than thirty years ago.

Waste

  • Seventy per cent of food wasted in the UK is wasted by citizens in their own homes – the equivalent to 4.5 million tonnes of food each year.
  • Canned foods have an incredibly long shelf life – up to three years which helps to reduce food waste at home. 
  • To further reduce food waste, empty any partly used canned foods into a suitable container and store in the fridge as you would other refrigerated food.

Energy

  • All canned food is cooked in the can so you only need to heat it up saving time and energy.
  • Canned foods can be used straight from the can with no need for chilling or freezing either during transit, in shop or at home, saving energy.

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