Amcor’s Stelvin® wine screw caps – small, beautiful and highly recyclable!

Amcor, owner of the original screw cap brand Stelvin®, is proud to be an active member of EAFA (European Aluminium Foil Association) Closures Group and to have contributed to the Aluminium Closures – Turn 360º’ pan-European promotion campaign launched by the Group last November 2012. The aim of the campaign is to enhance public awareness about the advantages of a state-of-the-art closure form with sustainability credentials.

What percentage of aluminium wine screw caps is actually recycled today?” is the question Stelvin® consumers frequently ask.

“We know aluminium is one of the most recyclable materials with huge recycling benefits. We have always known that aluminium screw caps are separated in the glass recycling process and are made available for recycling. Likewise, screw caps are also recycled together with other aluminium packaging,” says Dr. Gerald Rebitzer, Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas Sustainability Leader, “what we didn’t know for sure until now was the actual extent to which this is happening. Thanks to the analysis conducted with the other wine screw cap manufacturer members of the EAFA Aluminium Closures Group, we can now give answers to the question.”

Throughout Europe on average 40% of aluminium screw caps are currently recycled.

Depending on the collection and sorting infrastructure in place recycling rates for screw caps vary and can range from over 80% in Germany to about 40-50% in countries like the UK and Italy. Countries with relatively small market shares might already recycle 20-30% of all aluminium screw caps. The recycling rates are calculated on the basis of publically available national aluminium recycling rates and market data from EAFA member companies.

The advantage of aluminium screw caps is that they are collected either in mixed packaging recycling schemes or together with the glass collection stream. Despite their small size, aluminium screw caps collected together with mixed packaging material are readily separated with eddy-current systems. Similar systems are also used to completely separate the screw caps in the glass packaging fraction. This is due to the production requirements in glass recycling.

The value of the recycled aluminium supports the economics of the recycling process of both material routes. Once separated, the aluminium closures go into the aluminium recycling stream for re-melting to be used again for other valuable aluminium products.

Amcor Flexibles will continue to support the promotion of the ‘Turn 360º’ campaign and brings considerable sustainability expertise to the EAFA Closures Group.

About Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas, Capsules

Amcor Flexibles Capsules, part of the Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas business group, is a market leader specialising in the design and manufacture of overcaps and screw caps for wine, sparkling wine and spirits. Amcor Flexibles Capsules has plants in France, Canada, USA and Chile. For more information visit www.amcor.com/stelvin
About Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas

With 68 plants in 21 countries, Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas, a division of Amcor, is a market leader and the world's largest supplier of flexible packaging. We deliver innovative packaging solutions and provide enhanced quality products for the food, beverage, pharma, personal care, medical and industrial markets. Its award winning approach towards sustainability makes Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas the preferred partner for customers looking for responsible packaging solutions. For more information visit www.amcor.com.
About Amcor

Amcor Limited is a global leader in responsible packaging solutions, employing more than 33,000 people worldwide, operating in 42 countries across 300 sites. Amcor supplies a broad range of plastic (rigid and flexible), fibre, metal and glass packaging solutions to enhance the products consumers use in everyday life. Amcor also provides packaging-related services that help customers succeed through collaboration and innovation driven by art and science. Amcor is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. For more information visit www.amcor.com.
About EAFA

The European Aluminium Foil Association is the international body representing companies engaged in the rolling and rewinding of alufoil and in the manufacture of aluminium closures and alufoil containers as well as of all kinds of flexible packaging. Its more than 100 member companies are based in Western, Central and Eastern Europe. Founded in 1974, it has its roots in associations dating back to the 1920s.

For further information, please contact:
Karen Quirchove
Communication Manager
Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas
Fresh, LED, Dairy & Capsules
T:+ 33 6 07 11 22 86
E: karen.quirchove@amcor.com Andrés del Solar
Sales Director
Amcor Flexibles Europe & Americas
Capsules
T:+33 6 2 22 71 44 93
E: Andres.delsolar@amcor.com