An 81% collection rate for aluminium used beverage cans is encouraging. A below-target result for other aluminium packaging is just as important.
Both these figures show why reliable industry data is so important. It tells us where progress is being made, where parts of the recycling value chain still need attention and what should happen next.
To understand what is driving those results, the data needs to be broken down by packaging category and tracked over time. A single overall collection rate can hide important differences between beverage cans, tinplate and other aluminium packaging. Looking at each metal packaging substrate separately gives industry stakeholders a clearer basis for identifying weaker points in the system, investigating the barriers behind them and deciding where funding, infrastructure, partnerships or education are most likely to improve recovery.
The Full Picture
Reliable industry data helps producer responsibility organisations and the wider metal packaging value chain understand:
- What is entering the market: how much metal packaging is placed on the market and which materials and packaging categories it includes.
- What is being recovered: how collection and recovery rates differ between beverage cans, tinplate, aerosols and other forms of metal packaging.
- How much material is being reused: the level of recycled content returning to packaging production.
- Where materials may be lost: gaps in collection, sorting, processing or access to suitable end markets.
- How performance is changing: whether recovery is improving over time and whether targeted interventions are delivering results.
The figures show where to look, but they do not always explain what is driving the result. A lower collection rate, for example, may be linked to limited collection infrastructure, difficulties separating a particular packaging format, weak demand for the recovered material or a lack of clear recycling guidance.
This is where practical insight from across the value chain becomes important. Feedback from waste pickers, collectors, buy-back centres, recyclers, processors, producers and other industry partners can help explain the conditions behind the numbers. Local and international surveys, research and systematic literature reviews add further context by showing how South African performance compares with wider industry trends and practices.
Bringing these sources together helps organisations move beyond simply recording results. They can investigate the right problems, understand the barriers more clearly and decide where additional infrastructure, partnerships, research or education may improve recovery.
A Quick Look at MetPac-SA’s Data
In 2025, MetPac-SA represented approximately 106,000 tonnes of metal packaging placed on the South African market. Aluminium used beverage cans accounted for 50% of that volume, tinplate for 46% and other aluminium packaging for 4%.
The results differed significantly between these streams. Aluminium used beverage cans achieved an 81% collection rate, while tinplate and steel cans reached 64%. Used beverage cans also recorded 56% recycled content. Aluminium other packaging recorded 18% recycled content and remained below its collection target.
These figures confirm that established collection networks and industry partnerships are delivering strong results for some forms of packaging. They also prevent lower-performing categories from being obscured by a single overall percentage.
The data cannot, on its own, explain every barrier affecting other aluminium packaging, but it does show exactly where MetPac-SA needs to look more closely.
Turning Information Into Action
The below-target performance of other aluminium packaging helped confirm the need for focused intervention. MetPac-SA’s 2026 response includes an agreement with a dedicated aerosol re-melter to support improved recovery.
The figures cannot explain every reason behind weaker performance on their own, but they can identify the problem, guide further research and help determine where new partnerships or infrastructure may make a difference.
Future data can then show whether the intervention is working or whether the approach needs to change.
Strengthening Traceability
MetPac-SA is also investing in the systems needed to improve future data collection.
Its R10.4 million Buyback Centre 200 Project aims to digitise 200 buy-back centres and register 100,000 waste pickers nationally. At the time of reporting, 51 centres had been digitised, creating the foundation for a national database intended to strengthen packaging-waste traceability, improve data collection and support waste-picker inclusion.
Better visibility into how materials move through the recycling system can help reveal where collection activity is strong, where support is limited and how waste pickers contribute to recovery.
From Numbers to Better Outcomes
MetPac-SA’s results show why reliable data must be collected consistently and examined according to separate packaging categories.
It allows the organisation and its partners to recognise strong performance, focus attention on weaker streams, design targeted responses and check whether those responses work in practice.
For South Africa’s metal packaging value chain, reliable data provides a clearer view of where support is needed, which interventions are working and where resources can have the greatest impact.
