PLASTIC RECYCLING IS A MYTH. MOST PLASTIC IS SENT TO LANDFILLS

Plastic is not technically recyclable anymore because it is no longer profitable to recycle. Most recycling facilities simply send plastic to landfills because they would go out of business trying to recycle it. Environmental economists now say it is actually better for the planet to simply throw your plastic in the trash so that it requires less trucking to get it to the landfill. Sad stuff. But of all the aluminum produced since 1888, over 75% of it is still in current use.

IF PLASTIC POLLUTION ISN'T CURBED, PLASTIC WILL OUTWEIGH FISH IN THE OCEAN BY 2050.

BUT ABOUT THE PLASTIC COATINGS INSIDE ALUMINUM CANS?

All infinitely recyclable beverage cans (including ours) use an ultra thin microscopic liner. It is FDA-approved, with food-grade polymer, to ensure quality and taste. The lining, which is nearly 20 times thinner than a sheet of paper, has no impact on recyclability. In fact its 90 times less plastic material than a plastic bottle and even 10 times less than the plastic used in a glass bottle for the cap and label. No BPAs are used in the lining, and it is 100% melted down and degraded in the recycling process, so it’s not piling up in landfills or the ocean like plastic bottles are.

In terms of microplastics, the coating inside cans is chemically stable and bonded to the metal, not loose plastic, so beverage contact tests show virtually no particle release under normal use. By contrast a 2024 National Institutes of Health report found on average, a liter of bottled water included about 240,000 tiny pieces of plastic (10 to 100 times more plastic particles than seen in earlier studies). And a 2025 report found high levels of microplastics in glass bottles due to cap flaking issues.

We’re not going to solve all the world’s plastic problems with aluminum cans. But we can offer a better alternative to help bring death to unnecessary plastic bottles. Aluminum is infinitely recyclable (plastic bottles are not) and aluminum has the highest recycling rates of any other material, including glass.

WE DONATE A PORTION OF OUR PROCEEDS TO HELP KILL PLASTIC POLLUTION


5 Gyres is a non-profit organization that uses science, education and adventure to empower action against the global crisis of plastic pollution.

Thirst Project is a nonprofit organization that works with the support of young people to end the global water crisis by building freshwater wells in developing communities.