The Two-Piece Aluminum Can
Lessons for the Circular Economy
What goes around, comes around goes the saying. So, one might argue that aluminum cans must enjoy exceptionally good karma. Just in the United States alone, consumers recycle over 46% of all the aluminum cans after having quaffed their contents. As a result, about 75% of all aluminum ever refined still remains in circulation.
In the 1950s, most beer in the US was sold directly to consumers in tin cans or glass bottles. And the Coors Brewing Company was a relatively small, regional beer producer based in a sparsely populated part of the country. Facing the lengthening distribution routes that lay on the brewery’s path to growth, Bill Coors set out to develop a lighter package in a bid to lower shipping costs.
The product
In 1957, Coors achieved his primary goal. The new, two-piece aluminum can weighed a third of the old tin cans.
