My grandmother who lived to her late 80s was an expert in recycling. To her, it wasn’t recycling back then but finding a different way to use something which is what we call upcycling now. That was just the way you lived back then. It wasn’t just my grandmother either. I am sure you knew similar people. Even though there are very few people like my grandmother now, things are changing.
Let’s go back a bit in time. In the old days, things had more of a value. A lot of it was handmade. People didn’t throw things away but fixed them or used them for another purpose. The raw material was scarce and production was slow. On top of that, there were wars and economic crises which added to the shortage of materials and products.
Even though there are examples of recycling as we know it today dating back to 1031, the environmental movement that started in the 60s which led to the first Earth Day in 1970, brought it to the masses. Its importance and popularity have increased steadily ever since. The famous recycling logo which represents “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” also was created around the same time.
We have come a long way since then. The recycling rate is going up everywhere in the world with Germany leading with over 56% of waste being recycled. EU also has a target of a 70% recycling rate by 2030. Single-use plastics are being banned all over the world. New biodegradable materials are being developed. Consumer behavior is also changing towards packaging. According to GlobalWebIndex’s 2019 Sustainable Packaging Unwrapped report, 64% of consumers prefer packaging that incorporates recyclable materials.
What if I say, there is a material that doesn’t only incorporate recyclable materials but also can be recycled over and over again without any loss in quality or weight. In this day and age, this sounds like Star Trek material but it isn’t. In simple terms, metal recycles forever. It is one of the oldest materials for packaging but I see it as the packaging of the future.
It is the perfect packaging for a circular economy where the continual use of resources in a closed-loop manner is possible. It is good for a lot of different products such as food, beverages, chemicals, industrial goods, and cosmetics. It doesn’t have a taste or a smell that it can add to the product inside. It isn’t temperature-sensitive and it is impact resistant. It even has a logo of its own that you can use.
This is why metal packaging has become more popular than ever. As environmental concerns play a bigger part in our decision making, tins and cans will be there to help and we as a custom tin manufacturer, are getting ready to support that demand.
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