CONTAMINATION INSIDE AND OUT

摘要

Contamination is an issue across commodity streams. For aluminum recyclers and consumers, two sources of contamination have become growing concerns. The domestic craft beer boom has created the first issue. Craft beer makers are moving toward selling their products in aluminum cans instead of glass bottles for a variety of reasons, including cost, easier shipping, and cans' ability to completely block ultraviolet light, which can alter beer characteristics such as taste and freshness. But craft brewers, especially small ones, can't always find can-printing businesses willing to take on new clients or produce the shorter runs they need or can afford. An easier and lower-cost option they've turned to for labeling is to shrink-wrap printed plastic sheaths onto unprinted cans. The shrink-wrapping process adheres the plastic sheath so tightly to the can that the labels "are not coming off in the normal delacquering process, and... it's causing problems for scrap processors," says Matt Kripke, president of Kripke Enterprises (Toledo, Ohio). The plastic is "there in the middle of these [aluminum] bales," acting as hidden contamination, which reduces the value of the scrap.