Making Metals Matter

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So far this year MetalMatters has helped 15 local authorities and waste partnerships educate householders about the value of recycling metals in a bid to improve capture. The campaigns, developed by project managers Alupro in partnership with the local authorities, have so far reached 870,000 households in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Merseyside and Hampshire. Two further projects are currently in development.
MetalMatters developed out of a project by the Beverage Can Makers Europe (BCME), WRAP, Novelis and Tata Steel to understand why, when over 95% of local authority residents have access to recycling schemes, capture rates are at a relatively low level.

The campaign encourages householders “to recycle more things more often” and focuses on the endless potential for ‘transformation’ that household metal packaging has, enabling it to be turned into an infinite variety of objects — from MP3 players to kettles and car parts and, of course, more packaging. It was named ‘Communications Campaign of the Year’ at the CIWM Awards for Excellence in 2011 and was cited in the 2011 Waste Policy Review for England and Wales as an example of ‘best practice.

In the past 12 months MetalMatters has attracted additional funding support from the packaging industry, and partners now include leading food and drink container manufacturers and major brand owners. Local campaigns have also received additional funding from central funds. Full details of the programme partners, and case studies of the projects carried out so far can be found on this website.

The results from the 2012 programmes will be published during Autumn 2012. If you would like to receive this information please subscribe here.