The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) marked its 25th year of operation with a celebratory dinner at Haberdashers’ Hall in Smithfields last night (24 September).

Members of the waste and resources industry, stakeholders, Alupro programme partners, and staff joined together to celebrate the recycling body’s ‘silver anniversary’ and note the organisation’s achievements.

Speaking at the dinner, Executive Director Rick Hindley highlighted the passage of time, outlining that in the company’s inaugural year (1989) – when it was called ACRA and focused solely on aluminium cans – he himself was 25 years old, George H. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan as the 41st President of the United States of America, the Berlin Wall came down, and Tim Berners-Lee produced the proposal document that became the blueprint for the World Wide Web.

He added that since Alupro’s launch, aluminium recycling in the UK has become commonplace, with many of the industry’s recycling programmes supporting charities, community groups and schools “out of the intrinsic value of aluminium cans and foil”.

He said: “As packaging collection systems have evolved over the past 25 years, Alupro has continued to innovate and be ahead of the game, developing award-winning consumer education programmes like Every Can Counts and MetalMatters to drive positive behaviour change.

“Alupro has always been an innovator, and our programmes and campaigns have in many cases held up by our piers and stakeholders as examples of best practice.”

Hindley went on to outline that, when asked to describe Alupro in three words, staff and stakeholders repeatedly came back with the answers ‘people’ and ‘partnerships’.

He commented: “There is absolutely no doubt that people have been the key to the organisation’s success, allowing it to punch way above its weight. We have been incredibly fortunate to have the support of an enthusiastic, committed and knowledgeable board – some of whom have been involved from day one. The team, past and present, have always been 110 per cent committed, creative and focused. I can only express my sincere thanks to the team and the board for their endeavours and continuing support.

“Without the active support of our programme partners, we would not have seen the recycling rate for aluminium packaging climb from zero to over 43 per cent – today, nearly six out of 10 aluminium beverage cans are collected for recycling.”

Referring to the European Commission’s proposed recycling targets for 2030 (under consultation), Hindley stated that while Alupro “supports the setting of ambitious and realistic targets”, the proposed targets are “unrealistic and probably unachievable”.

He added: “Whatever the outcome of the current consultation process there is no doubt that the new targets, once implemented, will be challenging. Rest assured, we are ready to step up to that challenge and continue to innovate and ‘punch beyond our weight’ to ensure that recycling rates are maximised.”

British journalist Jeremy Vine was also a guest speaker at the dinner.

Find out more about Alupro’s work.