Diageo plans for its Guinness cans to be made of 100% recycled alumium across ten years. Credit: Ian Muttoo/ Flickr (Creative Commons).

British beverage company Diageo has announced an investment in the British Aluminium Consortium for Advanced Alloys (BACALL) for the development of a new aluminium recycling and manufacturing plant in the UK.

According to Diageo, the new plant will provide recycled aluminium that can be used to produce more than 400 million cans of Guinness and Gordon’s drinks.

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Once operational, the plant will expedite the company’s ten-year sustainability action plan by increasing recycled aluminium usage, with Guinness cans to be made of 100% recycled material.

The new facility will also reduce carbon emissions during the export and import of aluminium sheets, as well as minimise the company’s dependency on raw materials for making aluminium.

In addition, the plant will reduce energy usage used in aluminium sheet production by 95% less when compared to traditional production methods.

Diageo’s chief sustainability officer for global supply chain and procurement Ewan Andrew said: “We are excited to be a part of a project that will ultimately change the production of aluminium in the UK.

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“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 initially collaborated with the BACALL in 2021 when it co-funded a feasibility study with the UK government.

The study aims to understand how a large-scale circular economy strategy could be adopted across the aluminium sector in the UK.

BACALL non-executive director David Sneddon said: “Aluminium is one of the most recyclable materials on the planet – yet the 15 billion plus cans made in the UK rely on an energy-intensive supply chain, that requires aluminium to be brought in and out of the country.