The funding enables the installation of new equipment to capture additional more than 27 million aluminium beverage cans for recycling
Milwaukee Area Recycling Facility Receives Check. (Credit: Crown Holdings, Inc.)
A single-stream material recovery facility (MRF) in Milwaukee, US has received a $65,000 aluminium can capture grant, facilitated by the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI).
Luxembourg-based metal packaging solutions provider Ardagh Metal Packaging and US-based Crown Holdings offered funds for the grant.
The grant will enable the installation of new equipment, dubbed eddy currents, at the facility to recover crushed or flattened cans, improperly sorted into the material intended for landfill.
CMI has teamed up with The Recycling Partnership to evaluate and select the grantees, execute the grant programme, and provide technical support.
CMI president Robert Budway said: “Can Manufacturers Institute members Ardagh and Crown are catalysing a significant environmental and economic impact through funding these can capture grants at US recycling sortation facilities that result in many millions more aluminium beverage cans recycled annually.
“These cans will now complete their circular journey, which almost always is into a new can within 60 days, and this circular journey can happen infinitely since metal recycles forever.”
The recycling facility is jointly owned by the City of Milwaukee and Waukesha County and is operated by waste disposal company Republic Services.
It processes 65,000 tonnes of material per annum from the City of Milwaukee and 26 communities in Waukesha County and is the fourth MRF to receive the grant.
Curbside Management at Ashville, GEL Recycling at Port Orange, and Independent Texas Recyclers at Houston are the three previous grantees in the programme.
Upon completion of the installation in the recycling sortation facility, the equipment is said to enable the capture of additional more than 27 million aluminium beverage cans per annum.
The capturing and recycling of additional cans at the facility is expected to generate more than $400,000 in new annual revenue and enable adequate energy savings.
City of Milwaukee department of public works sanitation services manager Rick Meyers said: “Thank you to Ardagh and Crown for investing in recycling facilities to help more aluminium beverage cans complete their circular journey to becoming a new can.
“This additional eddy current will help us ensure increased capture of aluminium beverage cans, which will deliver significant revenue to help sustain city services as well as enable our residents to make a larger environmental impact from recycling.”