Japan aluminium can recyling ratio up to 78.5 pct

TOKYO - Japans recycling ratio for aluminium cans rose to a record 78.5 percent in the business year ended on March 31, up 4.1 percentage points from the previous year, an industry group said yesterday. Efforts by the central and municipal governments in Japan to encourage the recycling of aluminium cans helped boost the recycling ratio, the Japan Aluminium Can Recycling Association said. In 1999/00, 216,549 tonnes of aluminium was recovered from cans for drinks, the association said in a statement. Shipments of aluminium cans for drinks during the year totalled 275,751 tonnes for 16.96 billion cans, including 270,743 tonnes of domestically produced cans totalling 16.61 billion cans. "The recycling ratio in 1998/99 was 74.4 percent and the ratio rose rapidly last year...Japan has set a target ratio for aluminium can recycling of 80 percent by 2002/03, and we are already close to the target," said an association official. Of the recovered aluminium, 164,216 tonnes was re-used to produce more aluminium cans, while the remainder was used in die-casting or for other products used by the car part and steel sectors, the official said. As a result, the ratio of so-called "can to can" - the ratio of recovered aluminium uses to produce aluminium cans again - stood at 75.8 percent in 1999/00, down 3.2 percentage points. "The decline in the can to can ratio resulted from a recovery in demand for secondary aluminium from the car part and steel sectors last year," said the official. Industry sources said demand for aluminium cans in Japan was expected to level off to rise marginally in 2000/01. While demand for the cans for beer is expected to grow a few percent in 2000/01, demand for aluminium cans for soft drinks is expected to decline in 2000/01 on a major shift within the Japanese beverage market from cans to PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, the sources said. Of the domestically produced aluminium cans, 10.5 billion cans were for beer in 1999/00, the official at the association said. Canned beer in 1999/00 accounted for about 58 percent of total beer shipments in Japan, up three to four percentage points from a year earlier, the official at the association said. The 41-member association comprises seven major aluminium can makers, eight rolled aluminium product manufacturers, nine breweries, nine trading houses and eight recyclers. Story by Fumiko Fujisaki REUTERS NEWS SERVICE