How do they stack up?
The majority of the more than 200 billion beverage containers used in the United States each year end up in the landfill, despite current recycling efforts.
As policymakers look for ways to transform the U.S. recycling system, it is important to look at which beverage containers perform best in the current recycling system, as well as at which beverage container provides the most opportunity for reduced environmental impact in the recycling system of the future. A rigorous analysis found that the aluminum can has the highest “circular performance” in the U.S. recycling system today and provides the greatest carbon emission reduction potential in a variety of future recycling system scenarios.