That, to coin a phrase, is the question.
And certainly, one which the annual RWM Expo addressed head on this year by changing its name from Recycling Waste Management to Resource Waste Management when it opened its doors in Birmingham in September.
For the Tata Steel Packaging Recycling Team, this was a change that we were pleased to embrace as it allowed us to greatly expand our on-stand messaging and showcase how steel cans can be utilised as an everyday resource by highlighting the canvenience of cooking with canned food and present its wider sustainability attributes. This was, of course, in addition to its recyclability, ease of recycling and of course, its unbeatable recycling rate.
The food can’s sustainability attributes are many and varied, but top of the list is, without doubt, its exceptionally long shelf life.
A long shelf life makes a huge contribution to reducing food waste – not just in the home, but also more widely in supermarkets for example where canned food easily outlasts fresh food whilst retaining its nutrients. This is because canned food is cooked in the can, without use of preservatives and within days of harvesting, locking nutrients in before they can be lost.
So, at RWM Expo this year, we took different approach to most by employing some expert help from TV celebrity chef and Canned Food UK ambassador, Theo Michaels.
In a departure from the usual slide and lecture style presentations, we hosted a live cooking demonstration at the show’s Materials Village Theatre where Theo presented two popular recipes from his bestselling book, Canned - a banana blossom and chickpea goan curry, and an apricot grain salad.
Theo's lively and interactive demonstration, ably assisted by the Tata Steel Packaging Recycling Team, was well attended by visitors to RWM who were also then invited to taste the food on the nearby Tata Steel stand which re-enforced Theo’s enthusiasm for canned food through stunning images and word clouds which highlighted the many sustainability benefits of steel food cans.
Of course, our overriding aim in the recycling team is to highlight the steel can’s recycling attribute as a permanently available material which can be recycled an infinite number of times and show how cans can be easily recycled at home and through kerbside collection.
However, recent changes to the 'Simpler Recycling' reforms, formerly known as 'Consistent Collections', in England have shone a light on the fact that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to recycling practices and acknowledge that local authorities need some autonomy in how they collect waste for recycling.
In this respect, an appreciation of the wider sustainability attributes of individual materials must play a part: of course for the consumer ‘simpler recycling’ will make it easier for at home recycling but we want to maintain the quality of that material going through the waste stream.
So, in answer to the question, Recycle or Resource? I’d argue that the two go hand in hand. They are both part of the bigger sustainability picture. And the steel can, from a recycling and resource perspective, is unbeatable.
https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/packaging/sustainability
