[China Aluminum Industry Network] Metal beer packaging cans have more than 70 years of history. In the early 1930s, the United States had already started to produce beer cans. The three-piece cans were made of tinplate. The upper part of the can body was conical and the top was a can lid. Its general appearance is not too different from the glass bottle, so it was also filled with glass bottle filling line until the 1950s when there was a special filling line. The lid of the jar evolved into a planar shape in the mid-1950s. In the 1960s, it was changed to an aluminum ring lid.
Aluminum beverage cans appeared earlier in the late 1950s. Two DWI cans were officially launched in the early 1960s. Aluminum cans are developing very rapidly. By the end of this century, there have been more than 180 billion consumptions each year, and the total number of metal cans in the world (about 400 billion) is a relatively large number. The consumption of aluminum used in the manufacture of aluminum cans also increased rapidly. It was nearly zero in 1963 and reached 3.6 million tons in 1997, which is equivalent to 15% of the total amount of various aluminum materials in the world.
The United States is the larger producer and consumer of aluminum beverage cans in the world. The number of aluminum cans used in the United States exceeded 6.2 billion in 1984, exceeded 70 billion in 1987, exceeded 80 billion in 1988, exceeded 90 billion in 1990, and exceeded 100 billion in 1994. American aluminum cans are mainly used for packaging beverages. For example, in 1992, the beverage cans accounted for 92.8 billion aluminum cans, accounting for 97% of the total 99.7 billion beverage cans in the current year. Tin cans were only 2.9 billion, accounting for 3%. In 2001, the amount of aluminum cans for beer and soft drinks in the United States was nearly 100 billion, of which 64 billion were for soft drink cans and 33 billion for beer cans. The output of Japanese aluminum cans has increased for many years, from 3 billion in 1985 to 5.5 billion in 1987, 8.1 billion in 1989, 10.2 billion in 1991, 11.8 billion in 1993, and 1995. A total of 15.9 billion and 16.6 billion in 1997. The majority of aluminum cans are beer cans. For instance, in 1997, the number was 9.5 billion, accounting for 57%, carbonated beverage cans 3.5 billion, accounting for 21%, and other beverage cans 3 billion. Only, accounting for 18%. Since the mid-1980s, the European beverage can market has been showing steady growth. In 1990, European beverage cans consumed more than 20 billion last time, 25 billion in 1993 and 30 billion in 1995. In 1996, it fell by 2% from 32.2 billion the previous year to 31.6 billion. In 1997, the European beverage cans market resumed its steady growth with an annual growth rate of 5%, and total consumption increased to 33.5 billion, a relatively high level in history. Among them, there were 18.5 billion cool beverage cans, an increase of 51% over the previous year, and 15 billion beer cans, an increase of 7% over the previous year. About half of the metal cans and aluminum cans in European beverage cans. The consumption of aluminum cans in Central and South America is also relatively large, nearly 20 billion per year. The annual consumption of aluminum cans in Asia (excluding Japan) is no less than 20 billion. China’s aluminum cans now consume more than 8 billion a year.
For decades, the manufacturing technology of aluminium cans has continued to improve. The weight of aluminum cans has been greatly reduced. In the early 1960s, the weight per 1,000 aluminum cans (including can bodies and can lids) amounted to 55 pounds (about 25 kilograms), which fell to 44.8 pounds in the mid-1970s (25 In kilograms), it was reduced to 33 pounds (15 kilograms) in the late 1990s, and it has now been reduced to less than 30 pounds, which is almost half of what it was 40 years ago. During the 20 years from 1975 to 1995, the number of aluminum cans (capacity of 12 ounces) made from 1 pound of aluminum increased by 35%. According to the statistics of the American ALCOA company, the aluminum material needed for every 1,000 aluminum cans was reduced from 25.8 pounds in 1988 to 22.5 pounds in 1998 and further reduced to 22.3 pounds in 2000. As American can making enterprises continue to make breakthroughs in sealing machines and other technologies, the aluminum thickness of aluminum cans in the United States has decreased significantly, from 0.343 mm in 1984 to 0.285 mm in 1992 and 0.259 mm in 1998.
The lightweight progress of aluminum can lids is also evident. The thickness of aluminum cans dropped from 039 mm in the early 1960s to 0.36 mm in the 1970s, from 1980 to 0.28 mm to 0.30 mm, and in the mid-1980s to 0.24 mm. Can lid diameter has also been reduced. The weight of can lids continued to decrease. In 1974, the weight of 1,000 aluminum cans was 13 pounds, which was reduced to 12 pounds in 1980, to 11 pounds in 1984, to 10 pounds in 1986, and to 9 pounds in 1990 and 1992 respectively. 8 pounds, reduced to 6.6 pounds in 2002. The speed of can making has increased dramatically, from 650 to 1000 cpm (only/per minute) in the 1970s to 1000 to 1750 cpm in the 1980s and now to more than 2000 cpm.
Many countries, especially developed countries, attach great importance to the recovery and use of used metal cans, and the recycling rate of metal cans is also increasing. For example, the recycling rate of aluminum cans in the United States was already over 50% as early as the 1980s, 63.6% in 1990, 65.4% in 1994, 66.5% in 1997, and 62.5% in 1999, in 2000. It is 62.1%. The recycling rate of Japanese aluminum cans increased from 43% in 1990 to 58% in 1993, 70% in 1996, 79% in 1999, and 83% in 2001.