Aluminium is playing an important role in the packaging industry amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a report in Germany.

Packaging is vitally important for the smooth supply of food, pharmaceutical products as well as hygiene and personal care items. 

In order for the articles to reach the consumer in perfect condition, effective product protection through the packaging is essential. 

Aluminium offers an absolute barrier against external influences such as light, oxygen or germs and thus provides a convincing solution for optimal product protection. 

At the same time, aluminium packaging efficiently helps to protect the resources contained in the packaged product. 

“This is all the more important as product damage or loss during transport and storage destroys far more resources than are necessary for the production of the packaging,” says Johannes Schick, Chairman of the GDA Division of Tubes, Cans and Impact Extruded Parts. 

In the current report by the German Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environment Agency) on the generation and recycling of packaging waste in Germany, the importance of the recyclability of packaging was underlined. 

As a yardstick for measuring the recycling-friendly design of packaging, the minimum standard for determining the recyclability of packaging can be used which was recently updated by the German Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (German Central Agency Packaging Register). 

The minimum standard requires that the environmental impact of the products over their entire life cycle and, in particular, their subsequent disposal be taken into account when designing and manufacturing products.

The manufacturers of aluminium packaging have been pursuing a consistent strategy of reducing material input and the “design for recycling” for more resource efficiency for years. 

Thanks to the existing collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure, aluminium packaging remains in the value chain after use in Germany. In this context aluminium benefits from its intrinsic value and the fact that, as a so-called permanent material, it can be recycled again and again without any loss of quality.

“In this context, GDA welcomes the current “Mülltrennung wirkt” (“Waste separation works”) campaign by the so-called dual systems in Germany, which aims at an even more efficient collection and separation of packaging materials by consumers so that a comprehensive and high-quality recycling of materials is ensured,” emphasises GDA managing director Marius Baader.

A total of 90 percent of aluminium packaging is recycled in Germany.

Like what you read? metalpackager.com/subscribe