The catering outlets at the University provide many drinks in plastic bottles that are also available in cans. A plastic bottle can only be recycled about 2 to 3 times as recycling plastic reduces the quality of the plastic [1]. In the UK alone, 7.7 billion plastic bottles are used every year, of which only 45% is actually recycled and the rest ends up in landfill [2].

Aluminium cans can be recycled an infinite amount of times, as the material doesn't lose any of its quality within the recycling process. Recycling of these cans also saves 90% of the energy that would be needed to process raw materials into a can, and is a highly effective method to reduce the carbon footprint associated with creating these cans [3]. Even in transport, cans save between 7% and 21% of emissions per litre of liquid when compared to plastic bottles [4]. They are much more sustainable than single-use plastic bottles, and create much less emissions over their lifetime.

As a University that is focussing on sustainability, which is even outlined in the Citizen Student plan, making the switch from plastic bottles to aluminium canned beverages would tie in well with the Sustainability Policy [5] and Go Green Festival 2021 [6], where Week 3 is titled 'Energy and Waste'. The switch to aluminium cans is much better for the environment than plastic bottles, and many of the same drinks will be available to students in a can that are found in a bottle. This is already in practice at Reaseheath College and Uiversity Centre Reaseheath, so can be shown to work on a large scale at catering outlets offered to students [7].

[1] - https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2018/04/04/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-plastic-and-recycling/

[2] - https://www.recyclingbins.co.uk/recycling-facts/

[3] - https://transmetal.co.uk/how-many-times-can-scrap-be-recycled/

[4] - https://aluminiuminsider.com/study-aluminium-cans-release-less-greenhouse-gases-over-their-service-life-than-glass-plastic/

[5] - https://www1.chester.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2020-21%20Sustainability%20Policy.pdf

[6] - https://www1.chester.ac.uk/sustainability/events/go-green-festival-2021

[7] - https://www.reaseheath.ac.uk/leading-edge/