Aluminum beverage cans are top of mind as far as recyclable items go, and in the swell of the summer, we go through a lot of them. At the center of tailgates with friends, backyard barbecues with family and low key afternoon hangs, empty beverage cans multiply almost as fast as cases get off the truck. In some circles, “Where’s your recycling?” is a common phrase heard, and it does show; the recycling rate for aluminum beer and soda cans holds a bit higher than items such as plastic bottles and jars.
Glass is another widely recyclable beverage packaging material for beer and soda products. Unlike can pull-tabs, glass bottles open by pulling off a bottle cap, typically colorfully decorated with the logo of the brand of beverage. We’ll play games with them, mindlessly pocket them, and some people even collect them.
But one thing you can’t do with them is recycle them curbside. Though metal beer and beverage bottle caps are made of highly recyclable aluminum or steel, they are generally not recyclable through curbside collections due to their small size. Loose bottle caps fall through the screeners at municipal recycling facilities and are missed for recovery, tracking them for landfill. Due to their small size and light nature, metal bottle caps can find their way into oceans and waterways.
I’ve discussed in previous blogs the severe degradation to natural capital imposed by sheer volume of marine and ocean plastic that continues to generate around the world. That being said, many consumers assume that the metals of consumer packaged goods, such as canned foods and beverages, tin containers, and bottle caps, can be placed in the blue bin, and want to do the right thing. Creating a solution for bottle caps, a difficult-to-recycle waste stream, positively reinforces that notion, and keeps people thinking about items they can easily recycle, like aluminum cans.
This year, Coors Light is partnering with TerraCycle to recycle beer bottle caps in select bars across the U.S. as part of its summer program, EveryOneCan. Bars are outfitted with a recycling bin shaped like the Coors Light mountain to encourage staff to actively recycle the caps and in some instances, use the caps to create art. EveryOneCan is a nationwide program built on the principle that everyone, from brewers to bartenders to consumers, can and should strive to practice environmental stewardship.
Conversations around the recyclability of items as ubiquitous as bottle caps and aluminum cans in the summertime align seasonal activities with an awareness consumers can carry with them year-round. Emphasizing their commitment to sustainability in fun, accessible ways, Coors Light also worked with us to convert their old billboards into one-of-a-kind cooler bags emblazoned with the phrase, “I used to be a billboard,” available as a gift with purchase in select states.
At TerraCycle, we strongly believe that nothing is beyond recycling, every material has value, and the reasons things fall outside the scope of recyclability come down to be a lack of resources. Through initiatives like this by Coors Light, we have the opportunity to educate consumers that they have the power and the resources to take everything that is technically recyclable, and make sure it gets recycled.