| Recycling In 1959, the brewing industry began commercially using aluminum beverage cans, that same year also introducing aluminum can recycling, offering a penny per can returned. In the 1970s, U.S. brewers created the successful Pitch-In! anti-litter campaign. Today, all brewers use cans made from recycled aluminum. In fact, Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation is the world’s largest aluminum can recycler—recycling more beer cans than Anheuser-Busch ships worldwide.
Since 1961, Miller has reduced the amount of aluminum in its cans by 45 percent, creating a savings of more than 100 million pounds of aluminum each year. Nearly 100 percent of Miller's aluminum cans are now made from recycled materials.
Aluminum recycling not only reduces litter, it is highly energy efficient. Recycling an aluminum can requires only 5 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from raw materials. In other words, each time a can is recycled, it offers 95 percent energy savings.
In addition, new technology has allowed the reduction of weight of glass in beer bottles. At Miller, recycled glass now accounts for more than 30 percent of the materials used to make new bottles, saving more than 8,400 tons of glass each month.
Many brewers have also developed innovative programs to reduce solid waste at their plants. For decades, the nation’s brewers have taken the lead in improving the environment. The brewing industry is actively involved in the recycling of aluminum cans, and it supports curbside recycling programs in cities and communities across America.
The industry has also developed ways to recycle many of the by-products of the brewing process. Since 1989, Miller has reduced waste shipment to landfills by 72 percent. Since 1991, Anheuser-Busch has reduced its landfill waste by 53 percent.
Visit these sites for information on recycling and environmental efforts of the largest brewers:
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