As the environmental credentials of goods, including their packaging, increasingly influence consumer purchasing, so sustainability has become the driving force in our industry. We need packaging to preserve, protect and transport a huge range of products. At the same time, our increasingly hectic lifestyles demand the ultimate in convenience that packaging can provide. As well as being one of the most secure and versatile forms of packaging, metal is one of the easiest and cheapest materials to recover. Relatively simple technologies allow any waste sorting centre to quickly and effectively separate metal packaging from other waste products. Significantly, metal is a totally renewable material. Steel and aluminium are elements that never degrade so are easily extracted and recycled metal packaging can be renewed into new metal strip or coil again and again. It’s a fact that yesterday’s baked beans can may well become part of tomorrow’s new Mini Cooper while a recycled aluminium drinks can could well be back on the supermarket shelves as a new drinks can in just a matter of a few weeks.