steel introduction

Steel is 100% recyclable, contains up to 25% recycled steel and is the easiest packaging in the world to recycle!

Steel is energy efficient to produce, very strong and easy to recycle. These properties make steel the ideal packaging material for all types of food, drinks, aerosols & pet food and for many household and industrial products.

Over recent years, steel used for steel cans has become thinner and the overall weight of a drinks can has been reduced by 40% in the past 30 years. This is possible due to the immense strength of the steel which allows it to be rolled very thin while remaining an extremely effective form of packaging.

The wall of a steel drinks can can be only 0.07 mm thick, for example - that's thinner than a human hair!

Steel cans are often referred to as 'tins'. This is because most steel cans have a very fine layer of tin, about 0.00036 mm (about 15 millionths of an inch) thick, which protects the surface of the can and is invisible to the naked eye.

When looking at packaging, it is important to remember that food and drinks cans are not the only form of steel packaging. From water-colours to biscuits to industrial paint, many products can be packaged in attractively decorated and different shaped steel containers.