An aluminum can (British English: aluminium can) is a single-use container for packaging made primarily of an aluminum exterior with an epoxy resin or polymer coated interior. [1] It is commonly used for food and beverages such as olives and soup but also for products such as oil, chemicals, and other liquids. Global production is 180 billion annually [2] and constitutes the largest single use of aluminum globally. [3]
Use of aluminum in cans began in 1957. [4] Aluminum offers greater malleability, resulting in ease of manufacture; this gave rise to the two-piece can, where all but the top of the can is simply stamped out of a single piece of aluminum, rather than constructed from two pieces of steel. The inside of the can is lined by spray coating an epoxy lacquer or polymer to protect the aluminum from being corroded by acidic contents such as carbonated beverages and imparting a metallic taste to the beverage. [5] The epoxy may contain bisphenol A. [6] A label is either printed directly on the side of the can or will be glued to the outside of the curved surface, indicating its contents.
Most aluminum cans are made of two pieces. The bottom and body are "drawn" or "drawn and ironed" from a flat plate or shallow cup. After filling, the can "end" is sealed onto the top of the can. This is supplemented by a sealing compound to ensure that the top is air tight.
The advantages of aluminum over steel (tinplate) cans include;
The easy-open aluminum end for beverage cans was developed by Alcoa in 1962 for the Pittsburgh Brewing Company [7] and is now used in nearly all of the canned beer market. [8]
Aluminum cans can be made with recycled aluminum. In 2017, 3.8 million tons of aluminum were generated in the US of which 0.62 million tons were recycled - a recycling rate of 16%. [9] According to estimates from the Aluminum Association, a large amount of aluminium remains unrecycled in the US, where roughly $700 million worth of cans end up in landfills each year. [10] In 2012, 92% of the aluminum beverage cans sold in Switzerland were recycled. [11] Cans are the most recycled beverage container, at a rate of 69% worldwide. [12]
One issue is that the top of the can is made from a blend of aluminum and magnesium to increase its strength. When the can is melted for recycling, the mixture is unsuitable for either the top or the bottom/side. Instead of mixing recycled metal with more aluminum (to soften it) or magnesium (to harden it), a new approach uses annealing to produce an alloy that works for both. [13]
The aluminum can is also considered the most valuable recyclable material in an average recycling bin. It is estimated that Americans throw away nearly 1 billion dollars a year in wasted aluminum. The aluminum industry pays nearly 800 million dollars a year for recycled aluminum since it is so versatile. [14]
Because of the advantages of aluminium packaging (shelf life, durability, food grade factor) over plastics, it is considered an alternative to PET bottles, with the possibility of replacing the majority of them in the next decades. [15] [10]
Some people collect cans as a hobby. Can collections can be exclusive to one sector only, eg., some collectors may collect soda cans only, while others may dedicate themselves to collecting beer cans or oil cans exclusively, but some collectors may collect cans regardless of the type of can.
One aspect that may make someone interested in building a can collection as a hobby is the variety of cans available worldwide promoting such things as films, musical albums and tours, sporting teams and events, countries, ideals and even some non-food or petrol-oriented brands and companies. [16]
Celebrities can also be featured on collectible cans; such was the case of tennis player Andre Agassi, who had a set of four Pepsi Max soda cans dedicated to him in 1996. [17]
Davide Andreani of Italy is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest collection of soda cans of one specific brand in the world, with over 20,000 cans in his collection. [16] According to a website named canmuseum.com, the largest collection of Pepsi Cola cans belongs to Chris Cavaletti, also of Italy, who owned 12,402 Pepsi Cola cans from 81 countries as of 2022, while the largest collection of Coca-Cola soda cans belonged to Gary Feng of Canada with 11,308 variations of the Coca-Cola cans from 108 countries collected, with William B. Christensen of the United States owning the largest collection of beer cans with 75,000 from 125 countries and Allan Green, of the United States also, with the largest collection of wine cans, at 449. [18]
Some webpages are dedicated to the hobby of can collecting. [17]
Jolt Cola was a carbonated soft drink produced by The Jolt Company, Inc.. The cola drink was created in 1985 by C. J. Rapp as a highly caffeinated beverage. It was targeted towards students and young professionals, stressing its use as a stimulant in a similar manner as energy drinks. Its slogan reads "All the sugar and twice the caffeine!"
A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stopper, an external bottle cap, a closure, or induction sealing.
A drink can is a metal container with a polymer interior designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, teas, herbal teas, energy drinks, etc. Drink cans exteriors are made of aluminum or tin-plated steel and the interiors coated with an epoxy resin or polymer. Worldwide production for all drink cans is approximately 370 billion cans per year.
Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemist Neil C. Ward. Most flavors of Crush are caffeine-free.
Dasani is a brand of bottled water created by the Coca-Cola Company, launched in 1999. It is one of many brands of Coca-Cola bottled water sold around the world. The product is filtered and bottled.
A steel can, tin can, tin, or can is a container made of thin metal, for distribution or storage of goods. Some cans are opened by removing the top panel with a can opener or other tool; others have covers removable by hand without a tool. Cans can store a broad variety of contents: food, beverages, oil, chemicals, etc. In a broad sense, any metal container is sometimes called a "tin can", even if it is made, for example, of aluminium.
Jones Soda Co. is a beverage company based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It bottles and distributes soft drinks, non-carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and candy.
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is a component of the DJIA and the S&P 500 and S&P 100 indexes.
A beer bottle is a bottle designed as a container for beer. Such designs vary greatly in size and shape, but the glass commonly is brown or green to reduce spoilage from light, especially ultraviolet.
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of its products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc., PepsiCo has since expanded from its namesake product Pepsi Cola to an immensely diversified range of food and beverage brands. The largest and most recent acquisition was Pioneer Foods in 2020 for US$1.7 billion and prior to it was buying the Quaker Oats Company in 2001, which added the Gatorade brand to the Pepsi portfolio and Tropicana Products in 1998.
Container-deposit legislation is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers at the point of sale and/or the payment of refund value to the consumers. When the container is returned to an authorized redemption center, or retailer in some jurisdictions, the deposit is partly or fully refunded to the redeemer. It is a deposit-refund system.
Ting is a carbonated beverage popular in the Caribbean. It is flavored with Jamaican grapefruit juice and is both tart and sweet. Ting comes in a green glass bottle, green plastic bottle or a green and yellow can. Like Orangina, the beverage contains a small amount of sediment consisting of grapefruit juice pulp. Ting is produced in the United Kingdom under license by Refresco Beverages. Ting also now makes Pink Ting Soda, Orange Ting, Diet Ting Soda, and ginger beer.
Monster Beverage Corporation is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless, Reign and Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southern California, originally selling juice products. The company renamed itself as Monster Beverage in 2012.
Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop Made with Real Sugar, originally named Pepsi Throwback and Pepsi Made with Real Sugar and still branded that way in some international markets, is a soft drink sold by PepsiCo. The drink is flavored with cane sugar and beet sugar instead of the sugar substitute high-fructose corn syrup that has been used in the standard version of Pepsi within North America since the 1980s.
The Brazilian packaging market is the fifth-largest in the world, having realized US$35 billion in sales in 2014, with Brazil being the seventh largest economy in the world by nominal GDP. The packaging market includes manufacturing of packaging materials from raw materials, distribution of packaging materials to producers, packaging design as well as recycling processes. The packaging sector has strong ties to environmental organizations and tries to adapt to the demands of environmentally friendly production with more sustainable packaging.
Plastic containers are containers made exclusively or partially of plastic. Plastic containers are ubiquitous either as single-use or reuseable/durable plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags, foam food containers, Tupperware, plastic tubes, clamshells, cosmetic containers, up to intermediate bulk containers and various types of containers made of corrugated plastic. The entire packaging industry heavily depends on plastic containers or containers with some plastic content, besides paperboard and other materials. Food storage nowadays relies mainly on plastic food storage containers.
The history of bottle recycling in the United States has been characterized by four distinct stages. In the first stage, during the late 18th century and early 19th century, most bottles were reused or returned. When bottles were mass-produced, people started throwing them out, which led to the introduction of bottle deposits. However, during the second stage, after World War II, consumption patterns changed and nonreturnable containers became popular, which littered the environment. Some states implemented "bottle bills" that instituted deposits. The beverage-container industry first implemented private recycling programs and then pushed for municipal curbside recycling as an alternative to "bottle bills". More recently, PET bottles have largely replaced other materials. The United States used to be the front-runner when it came to recycling PET, but European countries have since outpaced the US.
Can collecting is the hobby of collecting cans, both aluminum and tin plate cans. There are many types of cans that can be collected from around the world, each with many different brands as well as brand variations and themes. Among the most popular cans to collect are soda ones, beer ones, and car oil ones, the latter of which are sometimes branded with well-known petrol company names. Other cans that may be considered as collectibles are milk cans coffee cans, syrup, salted peanuts, crayon and advertisement-oriented lithograph tins.
