US aluminum can recycling rate up to 52% in 2005 from 51.2%: assn

US aluminum can recycling rate up to 52% in 2005 from 51.2%: assn

Washington (Platts)--16May2006

The US aluminum can recycling rate rose to 52% for 2005 from 51.2% in
2004, according to the Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute and
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, in their joint yearly announcement
Tuesday. The US recycled 51.4 billion aluminum cans in 2005, equaling about
1.51 billion lb of aluminum, out of a total number of 98.9 billion cans
shipped.

This compares with 51.5 billion cans collected in 2004, out of 100.5
billion cans shipped that year. The weight of the cans was slightly higher in
2004, at 1.518 billion lb, while the number of cans per pound of aluminum rose
to 34.01 in 2005 from 33.92 in 2004. The pounds collected figures include used
beverage cans melted by US facilities plus exports of can scrap, as well as
imports of UBC scrap melted in the US.

While the recycling rate increased by almost a percentage point, it is
still well down from the record US recycling rate of 66.5% in 1997.
Nevertheless, "the aluminum beverage can is the most recycled consumer
beverage container in the United States," the associations said, noting that
the recycling rate of 52% amounts to more than twice the recycling rate for
beverage packages of other materials.

"This rising rate reflects the high value of aluminum recycling," said
Patrick M. Franc, chairman of The Aluminum Association and president of ARCO
Aluminum, in the statement.

"We are very pleased to see another annual increase in the aluminum can
recycling rate," said Robert Budway, president of the Can Manufacturers
Institute.

Some market sources had expected a much greater jump in aluminum can
recycling rates last year given the large increase in the price of aluminum.

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