An international study shows that the global recycling rate for aluminum cans reached 74.8% in 2023, while the North American recycling rate sat at 45.3%. This data highlights a large gap in material recovery, leaving the United States well behind international recycling benchmarks.
The benchmarking study was conducted by the environmental consultancy Eunomia for the International Aluminium Institute and presented at the COP30 conference.
The domestic recycling picture shows even lower numbers. The Aluminum Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute reported that only 43% of aluminum beverage cans shipped within the United States were recycled in 2023. This represents the lowest domestic recycling level recorded in decades, falling under the 52% historical average tracked since 1990.
The low recovery rate creates a direct financial drain for local economies. Industry data from the Can Manufacturers Institute shows that aluminum is the most valuable commodity in the residential recycling stream, averaging a market value of $1,338 per ton. By comparison, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic averages $215 per ton, while recycled glass carries a negative value of $23 per ton.
According to the State of Recycling report published by The Recycling Partnership, Texas and Florida together discard an estimated 94,000 tons of recyclable aluminum into landfills each year.
Brittany LaValley, vice president of materials advancement at The Recycling Partnership, stated that nearly three out of every four aluminum cans in these two states are thrown into the trash. The group attributed the low recycling numbers to poor local access to recycling programs, a lack of public education, minimal infrastructure funding, and processing losses at sorting facilities.
On a national level, the Aluminum Association estimated that Americans throw away roughly $1.2 billion worth of aluminum annually. Aluminum Association President and CEO Charles Johnson said that discarding these materials harms the economy, the environment, and national security.
He noted that aluminum can be recycled indefinitely without losing quality, and recycling it requires only a small fraction of the energy needed to smelt new raw metal.
The global benchmarking study indicates that countries with high recovery rates rely on specific policy frameworks. In the United States, the states that come closest to matching global recycling benchmarks are the 10 states with active bottle-deposit systems.
Maine, which uses a hybrid system of a 5-cent baseline deposit and 15-cent incentive for wine and liquor containers, has an overall recovery rate between 74% and 78%.
Oregon has a 10-cent deposit system that has contributed to its beverage redemption rate of 87.4%, according to data from the Container Recycling Institute.
To address low recovery rates, the Aluminum Association and the Can Manufacturers have called for container-deposit refund programs. The Eunomia study recommended that states establish clear, formal recycling targets for aluminum cans.
A previous bottle-bill proposal in Texas, House Bill 2048, won unanimous approval from a Texas House committee during the 2025 legislative session but did not reach the House floor for a full vote.