A giant spool of aluminum unwinds towards a very noisy white machine. When it comes out, a multitude of small shiny cups jostle on the conveyor belt. Lucien Debever seizes one in passing: “That’s our can”, comments the general delegate of the Economic Interest Group “The drink box”, which represents and defends can professionals. In the factory of Crown Bevcan, one of the three manufacturers in France, which welcomes us for this report, the “cups” are then stretched to reach their normal sizes of 25, 33 or 50 cl. “It’s 100% aluminum, fully recyclable,” continues the spokesperson.
Fully recyclable… For now. Because the case thickens in the following stages. In the “decorator”, the aluminum boxes are painted in the colors of the brand. That day, the pots are lined up in shades of green and red: the Heineken color chart. The cans then pass through the varnishing machines where guns line the inside with a coating to prevent the drink from coming into contact with the aluminium. “Varnish and inks cannot be recycled,” explains Lucien Debever. They will be burned during the recycling process. “Rest assured: they represent a tiny part of the can, the equivalent of 1%.
Thus, in the Constellium aluminum factory, which provides recycling, Heineken cans arrive sorted in the middle of huge compressions of aluminum packaging. These “balls” are poured into an oven, heated to around 800°C and transformed into liquid to form, after mixing with native aluminium, new objects: cans but also elements intended for the automotive industry. Above the molten metal, a chimney absorbs thick smoke: this is how the residue of inks and varnish is lost and ends its journey.
“The collection rate for cans in France is 48%: one in two cans does not end up in recycling! moderates Lise Nicolas, consultant in environmental engineering, co-founder, with Enzo Muttini, of the excellent Instagram account @m.mme.recyclage. So, if you care about the environment but still want to drink a good beer, is it better to opt for the can or the glass bottle? To answer this, our expert brandishes a comparative analysis of packaging published in December 2021 by Carbon trust and financed by Coca-Cola, a major user of cans and glass bottles for its sodas. The graph published on page 3 is eloquent: we discover that, on average, an aluminum can emits around 60 g of CO2 equivalent for 33 cl of drink. The emissions from the glass bottle of the same volume amount to 120 gCO2e/33 cl. Double ! “In fact, the bulk of the carbon impact is due to the production of the material. And since the aluminum can is 20 times lighter than the glass bottle, it wins hands down,” explains Lise Nicolas. Add that, sold in the same store, the can of Heineken costs €2.86/l compared to €3.51/l for a bottle and the balance then tips seriously in favor of the small can.
But taste-wise, is there a difference? A sommelier was asked to taste the two Heineken products, can and bottle blind, leading her to believe that they were two different beers. “The final note is not crazy,” notes Mathilde Boitel, blindfolded, after dipping her lips in the beer poured from a can. And that of the bottle? “It doesn’t smell…Is it water?” “But the owner of the restaurant Le Myrobolant, in Paris, tastes again. “In fact it has a little more material, it is a little rounder. Result: the bottle wins.
“That said, what you really need to reduce your carbon footprint is a returnable glass bottle,” continues Lise Nicolas. On the comparative analysis of Carbon trust, this packaging displays approximately 40 g of CO2 equivalent for 33 cl of drink. Problem: the proposals of manufacturers in this area are non-existent. “It’s up to them to offer solutions to consumers,” emphasizes the engineer. Heineken, if you can hear us…