Aluminium, Grade Information
Ali Cans
Used aluminium drinks cans, one of the most recyclable and fastest-turnaround scrap metals in the world, with a well-established UK collection and reprocessing industry.
Periodic Table Position
History & Interesting Facts
The aluminium drinks can has a surprisingly recent history. Steel cans dominated the beverage market until the early 1960s, when Coors Brewing Company introduced the first all-aluminium beer can in the USA in 1959. The advantages, lighter weight, faster chilling, and better resistance to flavour taint, drove rapid adoption. Alcoa developed the modern ring-pull "easy-open" end in 1963, and the all-aluminium can rapidly took over the carbonated drinks market. In the UK, the aluminium can became mainstream through the 1970s and 1980s. By the 1990s, billions of aluminium cans were being sold annually in the UK. The recycling of aluminium cans has been promoted since the 1970s, and the UK aluminium can recycling rate has risen from below 5% in 1990 to over 75% in recent years, though still lagging Scandinavian rates of over 90%.
Historical Uses
Aluminium cans have been used almost exclusively as beverage containers since their introduction. Beer, lager, cider, soft drinks, and energy drinks account for the vast majority of UK can production. The properties that make aluminium ideal, impermeability to light and oxygen, rapid heat transfer for chilling, printability, and light weight, are uniquely suited to carbonated beverage packaging. Aluminium foil packaging (technically a related product) has broader food applications but is a separate material stream. In the context of scrap, "Ali Cans" specifically refers to used beverage cans (UBCs) collected from consumers and businesses. These cans represent one of the most energy-efficient recycling loops in industry: a can can be recycled and back on a shelf as a new can within 60 days, using only 5% of the energy required to produce primary aluminium.
Current Uses
Recycled aluminium cans, processed into UBC bales, are shipped to re-melt facilities, principally in the UK and continental Europe. The material is de-coated (paint and lacquer removed) and melted to produce aluminium alloy that feeds back into can sheet production. Novelis, the world's largest aluminium rolling company, operates a major can recycling and rolling facility at Latchford, Cheshire, a significant UK processing hub for UBC scrap. The recycled aluminium alloy (primarily 3000-series alloys) is rolled into thin sheet, which is then formed into new can bodies and ends. The UK drinks can market uses billions of cans annually, with demand growing as consumers shift from glass bottles, which are heavier and more energy-intensive to transport. Energy drinks, craft beers, and canned wine (a rapidly growing category) are all expanding UK can consumption.
Future Possible Uses
The future for aluminium can recycling is extremely positive. The EU's Single-Use Plastics Directive and equivalent UK policy is driving substitution away from plastic drinks bottles toward aluminium cans, significantly growing the potential recycling feedstock. Deposit Return Schemes (DRS), successfully deployed in Scotland and under consideration for England, have been shown in other countries to boost recycling rates to 90%+ for cans, dramatically increasing the volume and quality of material available for recycling. Improved sorting technology (AI-enabled robotic sorting) will make the recovery of cans from mixed waste streams increasingly efficient. New alloy formulations that allow greater contamination tolerance in recycled can sheet will make closed-loop recycling more achievable. Aluminium cans as a format are forecast to grow their share of the UK beverage market through 2030.
Where Does This Scrap Come From?
Aluminium cans for scrap come from household collections via kerbside recycling, bring banks, and supermarket return points. Events, festivals, sporting venues, and stadiums generate large quantities of compacted or loose cans. Pubs, bars, and restaurants accumulate cans in significant volumes, particularly those stocking canned craft beer and soft drinks. Offices and workplaces with vending machines generate ongoing volumes. Waste management facilities sort aluminium cans from mixed recycling streams using eddy-current separators. Individual collectors and community recycling groups aggregate cans for sale. At the scrap yard, the key quality requirement is clean, dry cans with no liquid remaining. Crushed or uncrushed cans are both accepted, but crushed cans are more efficient to transport. Steel cans must be separated, they are magnetic and easily distinguished from aluminium with a magnet.
How Is It Remanufactured?
Aluminium cans (UBCs) are collected, baled by scrap yards or recyclers, and shipped to de-coating and re-melt facilities. The bales are passed through a rotary de-coater that burns off paint and lacquer at controlled temperatures, recovering aluminium oxide and combustible gases for energy recovery. De-coated aluminium is charged into a melting furnace (typically a rotary or side-well furnace) at around 700°C. The molten aluminium is carefully alloyed to meet can sheet specifications (typically 3004 or 3104 alloy) by adding controlled amounts of manganese and magnesium. The alloy is cast into slabs or ingots, which are hot-rolled then cold-rolled down to thin sheet (typically 0.25mm thick for can body stock). The sheet is shipped to can-making plants, formed into body and end components, filled, and sealed. The entire closed-loop can take as little as 60 days, among the fastest recycling loops in any industry.
5-Year Price Trend & Forecast
Ali Can scrap prices are closely linked to LME aluminium, typically paying at a modest premium or discount to clean sheet aluminium depending on market conditions and can quality. Over 2021–2026, LME aluminium ranged from around $1,700/tonne to a spike above $3,800/tonne in early 2022, reflecting the European energy crisis. Prices then moderated to a range of approximately $2,000–2,500/tonne through 2023–2025. UK scrap yard prices for UBC cans in 2024–2025 typically ranged from £800 to £1,400 per tonne. The introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme in Scotland has increased the volume and quality of cans entering the recycling stream, which is expected to improve average prices for sellers. Forecasts suggest continued moderate aluminium price growth through 2026–2030, supported by electrification demand.
Note: All scrap yard prices paid by QuickStop Metals are calculated as a percentage of the prevailing LME or spot market price, updated daily. Check today's prices →
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