Abstract
Aluminium is applied in food packaging due to its preservative capability. However, food residue and the fact that most packaging is thin gauge material, 50–250 µm, makes recycling challenging. In Northern Europe, processed cheese, caviar, and mayonnaise are popular items stored in toothpaste-shaped tubes. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the recyclability of these Al tubes from the aspect of tube thickness, user habits, food residue, benefits of pre-treatment, all in regard to yield. Food residue reduced the yield from around 88% (non-used empty) to 57% (with 3% food residue), and down to 34% (with 16% food residue). For comparison, the influence of beverage residue on yield was also studied. The influence of beverage residue is minimal, even neglectable after drying the can. The results also show that the influence of food residue on the yield is larger than that from decoating. The producer change in tube wall thickness did not influence the recycling yield considerably. However, a thinner tube makes it easier to be emptied. This together with that thinner tube uses less Al to protect the same amount of food implies that the thinner tube can be regarded as more environmentally friendly.
