The U.S. recycling rate for aluminum beverage containers jumped seven percentage points, from 58.1 percent to 65.1 percent for 2011, the Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) announced today.  That means 61 billion cans were recycled in 2011, a milestone that marks solid progress toward the industry's goal of a 75 percent recycle rate.  The higher recycling rate also secures the aluminum can's position as the most recycled beverage container.  Aluminum cans are recycled at a rate that is more than double that of any other beverage container. "We are excited to have made strong progress toward our goal to increase the aluminum can recycling rate to 75 percent," said Heidi Brock, president of the Aluminum Association, "but we need the help of every American to continue to raise the rate. There is much more work still to be done here in the United States to reach our goal by 2015."  The Aluminum Association's Can Committee, composed of Alcoa, Tri-Arrows Aluminum and Golden Aluminum, along with the entire can industry is committed to continuing efforts to increase the aluminum can recycling rate. "Cans are an obvious green packaging choice because it takes 95 percent less energy to produce a can from recycled material, resulting in significant energy, emissions and resource savings. The amount of energy saved just from recycling cans in 2011 is equal to the energy equivalent of over 17 million barrels of crude oil. That's the amount of oil needed to fuel more than 1 million vehicles on the road for 12 months. Interestingly, that same amount of energy equivalency that recycling cans saved (17 million barrels of crude oil), is also what it takes to produce the 29 billion plastic water bottles Americans consume each year, 1" said the Association's Can Committee Chair, Allison Buchanan of Alcoa.  "What's more, these savings can be realized over and over again due to the infinite recyclability inherent in aluminum cans. That means the cans we recycle after our upcoming Labor Day barbeques will be back on the store shelf as new cans by Halloween; not just this year, but for many years to come."

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