The European Aluminum Foil Association (EAFA), in collaboration with Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE), is forming a European alliance with a clear overarching goal: to substantially improve the recycling performance of small aluminum packaging, including coffee capsules. The alliance seeks to establish the necessary conditions to enable these packaging formats to be effectively collected, sorted, and recycled at high quality and on a large scale throughout Europe.
In view of the upcoming requirements of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), there is a clear and growing need for action. Although aluminum as a material generally achieves high recycling rates, small aluminum packaging continues to lag behind. This includes products such as coffee capsules, chocolate and cheese foils, dairy lids, and other small aluminum containers.
While modern, large-scale sorting facilities are already able to efficiently separate these formats for aluminum recycling, this capability is not yet widespread across all European regions. Consequently, a significant share of small aluminum packaging is currently sent to incineration and only partly recovered via bottom ash treatment. This approach will not satisfy the future PPWR requirements for recycling “at scale.”
At the same time, the expanding roll-out of deposit return schemes across Europe is removing beverage containers from household recycling streams, creating an opportunity for sorting plants to redirect their focus towards improving the capture and recycling of other aluminum packaging formats.
“We need to join forces in the value chain to make progress, particularly with small aluminum packaging to achieve the PPWR targets. This alliance provides a shared foundation to improve collection, sorting and recycling in a targeted way,” said Guido Aufdemkamp, executive director of EAFA. “Together, we will identify the respective bottlenecks in waste management that hinder a good recycling performance and conduct relevant studies supporting practical implementation of measures. We also rely on the experience in our network of national aluminum recycling organizations and other existing initiatives to put in practice the necessary actions.”
16 companies have confirmed their participation in the alliance, which was launched on 1 January 2026. Participants include Actega, Al Invest, Aluminium Féron, Alupak, Amcor, Bel Group, Constantia Flexibles, Datwyler, Delica, Formika, JDE Peet’s, Laminazione Sottile, Lindt, Nestlé Nespresso, Speira, and Symetal.
