Alcoholic drinks giant Diageo has pledged to fund a project that will create an aluminium circular economy for drinks cans in the UK.

The project will enable the British Aluminium Consortium for Advanced Alloys (BACALL), a collective of industry experts, to build a recycling and rolling mill that will process ‘hundreds of thousands of tons’ of 100% recycled aluminium with the aim of yearly producing 400 million cans to pack Guinness and pre-mixed Gordon’s and tonic, enabling Diageo to reduce its carbon emissions.

The amount of funding for the project, which is said to be currently at the design, engineering and site selection stage, has not been revealed, but could be more than £100 million.

In a statement, Diageo said that the UK, which consumes more than 10 billion cans a year, relies on an energy-intensive process of exporting slab made from used beverage cans and importing aluminium coil to make new cans. The recycling rate for beverage cans is currently more than 80%, according to Alupro.

The plans will contribute to Diageo’s 10-year sustainability action plan.

The plans don’t mention if canmakers in the UK, such as Ardagh Metal Packaging, Ball Packaging Europe, Canpack or Crown Packaging, will be involved in the project.

Ewan Andrew, global supply chain and procurement and chief sustainability officer at Diageo, said: “We are excited to be a part of a project that will ultimately change the production of aluminium in the UK. We are now seeking to work in partnership with business and government to not only reduce aluminium’s carbon footprint, but also to bring this part of the aluminium supply chain back to the UK.”

Diageo has worked with BACALL since 2021 when it jointly funded a feasability study with the UK government on establishing an aluminium circular economy in the UK.

David Sneddon, non-executive director of BACALL Aluminium Ltd, said: “By sourcing, recycling, manufacturing and supplying aluminium flat rolled sheet in the UK, we can localise and close the supply chain, providing substantial reductions in carbon emissions. This will help create a more sustainable aluminium industry and will secure the future capacity of ultra-low carbon alloys,” he said.

Metallurgy expert Professor Geoff Scamans of Brunel University said the aluminium supply chain has the potential to be zero carbon, but needed to “dramatically” reduce its emissions. “The UK currently exports much of its aluminium scrap, yet at the same time, imports nearly all aluminium sheet. By changing this, we should see a significant carbon footprint reduction. I applaud Diageo and BACALL for beginning this process,” he commented.