Aluminium cans for beverages have been around for a long time and are considered to be one of the more sustainable types of packaging due to their easy recycling.
However, the manufacturing process for aluminium cans isn’t particularly sustainable.
Lubricants are needed to cool the cans during the forming process, and this then has to be washed away, using large quantities of water.
Austin-based startup VulCan Packaging is introducing an alternative method of producing cans, the Aluminum Toyo Ultimate Can (aTULC), in the US market. While aTULC has been around since 2002, VulCan claims theirs is the first commercial-scale operation to be installed here.
Note that a previous attempt to launch this type of can in the US, by American Canning, was halted when the technology supplier pulled out of the project.
“This is more than a company launch — it’s the beginning of a shift in how beverage cans are made in the U.S.
We are incredibly proud to bring this proven global technology to market at scale, giving our customers a sustainable, high-performance packaging solution built for modern brands and today’s consumers.”
~ Alvin Widitora, managing director and co-founder at VulCan Packaging
I thought it would be useful to compare the conventional and aTULC can manufacturing processes to see how they differ and also look at how each type is recycled.
What’s Different With aTULC Cans?
Conventional aluminium beverage cans are made from sheets of aluminium material that are drawn into the shape of the finished can.
Lubricants are applied to the material to cool and lubricate this process, which must be washed off after the can is formed.
After this, the inside of the can is sprayed with a coating to prevent the product from touching the bare aluminum.
The aTULC cans are also made from aluminium sheets, but in this case, they have a PET film laminated to the sheet. This film serves two purposes: it acts as a lubricant during the drawing process and also becomes the barrier layer in the finished can.
In some cases, film can be laminated to both sides of the aluminum, resulting in the can having an outside surface receptive to high-quality printing.
The two manufacturing processes have these steps:
| Conventional Cans | aTULC Cans |
| Aluminum Sheet Plain aluminum coil is fed into the production line. | Pre-Coated Aluminum Sheet The aluminum sheet arrives pre-laminated with a polyester film on the interior (and optionally exterior). |
| Lubrication A synthetic lubricant is applied to reduce friction during forming. | Drawing and Ironing (D&I) The can body is formed without any lubricant—a major difference. |
| Drawing and Ironing (D&I) The aluminum is drawn into a cup shape, then ironed into a tall can body. | No Washing Needed Since there’s no lubricant, no wash station or water treatment is required. |
| Washing The lubricant must be thoroughly washed off, using detergents and large volumes of water. | No Spray Coating or Curing The laminated film is the barrier layer, so there’s no internal spray coating or oven curing step. |
| Drying Cans are dried with high-temperature air. | Trimming & Necking The same as with conventional cans. |
| Internal Coating (Spray Coating) An epoxy or polymer-based lacquer is sprayed inside to prevent metal–beverage interaction. | |
| Curing The coating is cured in ovens at high temperatures. | |
| Trimming & Necking Cans are cut to size and shaped at the top. |
Can Performance
It’s claimed that the PET film laminated to the inside surface of aTULC cans provides better barrier properties than the coatings applied to conventional cans. This can lead to longer shelf life and better product freshness. (source: Toyo Seikan).
It should be noted that TULC cans might not be compatible with high-temperature retort systems, where the products are subjected to temperatures that could damage the PET liner material.
Recycling
Aluminum cans are one of the most efficiently recycled packaging materials worldwide. Standard drawn and ironed (D&I) cans are shredded, decoated (via heat), and melted down for reuse, with high recovery rates.
aTULC cans can also be efficiently recycled; The PET film coating the inside (and sometimes outside of the can burns off in the high-temperature furnaces used to melt aluminum (~660°C / 1220°F).
This resembles how lacquer coatings or inks are burned off in conventional can recycling. However, it’s essential that the correct temperature is maintained to ensure complete incineration and because of the fumes that are produced, air filtration systems are needed.
It’s possible that not all recycling facilities can handle these materials.
