All case studies

ENVIRONMENT
Working with steel suppliers to
reduce waste
We have launched a number of projects in
relation to the steel we use to manufacture
beverage cans. Each project is different and
has varying impacts.
A common theme through them all is the
minimisation of scrap steel or coil packaging
going to landfill sites around the world,
together with the additional benefits of the
reduction of transport required.
”By working with
suppliers we share
the benefits with
the whole industry”
Maximising steel coil weights
We aim to maximise the steel coil weights
used within our sites to help achieve the
following environmental benefits:
• Less fuel and trucks used to deliver the
coils.
• Less packaging required (wood, metal and
plastic).
• Less use of forked lift trucks at our site
reducing fuel consumption.
Three of our major steel suppliers have been
asked to look at producing the maximum
responsibility
case study
possible coil weights within their production
constraints that can be processed at our steel
plants within their coil handling capabilities.
The project is progressing well despite the
constraints experienced by the suppliers in
the restriction of maximum ‘payloads’ that
can be transported by truck within Europe.
Reducing packaging
We also have a project looking at reducing
the amount of packaging used by suppliers
on their steel coils arriving at our sites.
The constraint on this project is to not
compromise the level of protection required
for the coils in transit, but to establish the
lowest acceptable level of packaging
necessary to prevent damage to steel whilst
being transported and to protect it against
the weather (steel rusts!). The environmental
benefits for this are less packaging and less
packaging disposal required (waste).
Laser welded coils
Steel coils are traditionally welded by
conventional non-laser methods. When coils
of this nature are run at our sites, the line is
stopped and the section of coil containing the
weld is cut out – usually two or so meters.
With the introduction of laser welded coils,
our lines have detectors that identify the laser
weld position on the coil and alert line
operators who then momentarily stop the line
to sweep out the can cups formed at the line
of the weld with subsequent minimal loss of
metal.
The benefits here are:
WASTE MANAGEMENT
• Easier maximisation of coil weights as
Rexam allows a higher ratio of laser coil
welds than “conventional” welds. The
benefits of higher coils weights are listed
earlier.
• More steel per coil is used to make cans.
This means that there is better use of the
energy used to produce the coil.
• Less scrap is produced during the process.
These changes per coil may not seem that
much, but when you consider the number of
coils used (over 12,000 p.a.) and the
number of steel cans produced (over 4 billion
p.a.), the impacts are significant.