Compared to 5182 alloy, 3004 aluminum alloy used for beverage cans (containing 1.0%-1.5% manganese and 0.8%-1.3% magnesium) can reduce tank wall thickness to 0.097mm due to higher tensile strength (≥285MPa), and aluminum content in one tank is reduced by 12%, yet raw material cost is 18% higher than the regular 5052 alloy. According to International Aluminum Association (IAI) data, the cost of the 2023 3004 aluminum coil is approximately $3,300 / ton, 11.8% more than that of the standard 3104 alloy ($2,950 / ton), but with the lightweight construction, 3.2 tons of aluminum can be saved per million cans and the overall cost is saved 7.4%. Ball Corporation’s “Ultra-Thin tank technology” uses the H19 state cold rolling process to increase tank hardness to 58HRB and line speeds of up to 2,500 cans/min, enhancing efficiency by 15% over conventional processes and conserving 22% in energy expenses.
On recycling, the manufacturing of beverage cans using recycled aluminum (85% recycled) is 23% cheaper than raw aluminum but comes with an additional cost of investment in alloy composition adjustment equipment (approximately $4.5 million per unit budget). Novelis’s closed-loop recycling technology is able to lower the tank regeneration cycle to 60 days, and the carbon footprint per ton of recycled aluminum is only 0.8 tons of CO2e, 94% less than that of primary aluminum (14 tons of CO2e), but the loss rate of the magnesium and manganese element needs to be capped at 0.3% to avoid loss of strength. The EU’s “Packaging Materials Recycling Rate Regulation” in 2022 requires beverage cans to have ≥50% recycled aluminum, raising corporate buying expenses by 8%-12%, but resulting in long-term carbon tax spending savings of about $18 / ton.
In terms of production process difference, 5182 aluminum alloy is able to fulfill the need to resist greater internal pressure (≥90psi), and its die life for cold forming stamping (about 500,000 times) is 75% lower than the die life of 3004 can die (2 million times), and increasing mold replacement frequency results in increased cost of a single tank of production by 0.002 US dollars. The “thin can lid” technology that Coca-Cola tested in 2023 thinned 5182 aluminum from 0.27mm to 0.21mm using topological optimization design, and the crack resistance still maintained 1.8 times of the safety factor, and saved 1.1 tons of aluminum per million cans and reduced logistics costs by 9%.
The impact of market volatility is extremely huge, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict of 2022 drove the price of magnesium to $11,000 / ton (450% increase), and tank manufacturers were forced to reduce the proportion of magnesium from 1.2% to 0.9%, the rebound of the tank increased by 0.5%, the thickness increase of 0.01mm compensation requirement, and the cost of one tank rose by $0.003. That is why Ardagh Metal Packaging developed a “low magnesium high silicon” replacement alloy (with 0.4% silicon and 0.7% magnesium) with compressive strength of 90psi, reducing the cost of the material from $380 per ton but at an expense of a further $20 million to update the melting and casting line.
At the technical innovation level, solvent-based coatings on the inner wall of aluminum cans are 15% more costly than water-based coatings (2-3μm thickness), but VOC emissions are reduced from 120g/m² to 5g/m² and compliance costs to California Act 65 can be reduced by 25%. Crown Holdings’ “Uncoated nanotechnology” creates a 5nm dense oxide layer through anodic oxidation, raising corrosion resistance by 40%. Though the R&D cost is more than $120 million, production cost of one tank is reduced by $0.0015, and 10 billion cans per year production can save $15 million. As of 2023, the total material optimization has saved the global aluminum can industry a total of $870 million, in which the choice of alloy type accounts for 34% of the weight of the cost, verifying the strategic value of the choice what type of aluminum is used in beverage cans.