Honestly, I’m surprised that there are recyclers who don’t accept all cans. All metal cans are 100 percent recyclable. Aluminum and steel are permanent and endlessly recyclable materials that, if kept out of landfills, can be recycled again and again without loss of strength or quality.

Metal is an economically valuable commodity for Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). Because food and beverage cans enjoy the highest recycling rates of all consumer packages in the United States, recycling acceptance of metal does not seem to be a problem. In fact, of all the steel and aluminum ever produced, 75 percent of aluminum and between 80 and 90 percent of steel is still in use today.

Of course, we are fully invested in the collection and return of all steel and aluminum, and can-makers fund many recycling education programs to share accurate information about metal recycling. It is my hope that these efforts and the true story about the endless recyclability of metal will correct any misperceptions and help all recycling stakeholders optimize collection and recycling rates.

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This is a timely question as our society has reached a point where everyone — from consumers, retailers, customers and the industry itself — now recognize that the entire cycle of food and beverage production, distribution and sale places a significant impact on our natural resources.

Packaging producers — from glass to plastics to steel — are hard at work to make their own products less intrusive on the environment. Can manufacturers have a great story to tell here because we’ve been working this issue for decades. We recognize that not only is it the responsible thing to do for the environment, it simply makes great business sense. Recycled materials reduce landfill waste, energy consumption and production costs; truly recyclable materials also decrease the need for virgin material because their properties do not degrade in the recycling process.

If you look at real facts, the can has advantages in a number of areas when you are talking about sustainability. One of the most important is that cans are endlessly recyclable. Metal is a permanent material that, if kept out of landfills, can be recycled again and again without loss of strength or quality.

Two, food and beverage cans currently enjoy the highest recycled rates of all consumer packages in the United States. This means that not only are steel and aluminum cans recyclable in theory, but they are the most recycled package in actual practice. In the U.S., steel food cans are recycled at a rate of 67 percent, aluminum beverage cans at 58 percent. This is not an insignificant point. If you have the most efficiently produced material in the world, but no one is recycling it, the sustainability benefits are lost.

In addition, cans have a higher content of recycled material that any other food or beverage package. Aluminum cans, for instance, contain 68 percent of recycled materials. Steel food cans contain 35 percent — once again the highest of our competitors.

Because we’ve been at this for a long time, 80 to 90 percent of all the steel ever produced is still in use. At 75 percent, aluminum is not far behind. On top of that, the can industry has worked hard to implement new manufacturing innovations, such as “lightweighting” technology, which has reduced the amount of metal used in each can. Steel cans have reduced the amount of metal in each can by 31 percent since 1990, while the aluminum can has reduced its metal content by 15 percent since 1993.

As the most recycled package in the United States — and a recycling rate about double that of any other food or beverage package — the can stacks up well.