Metal packaging is found everywhere in modern daily life due to its versatility and universal consumer approval. Its sustainability credentials combined with the outstanding characteristics listed below make it an ideal packaging solution that meets the changing demands of our society in the 21st century:
The advantages of the metal packaging:
* Keeps the content safe for longer
* Prevents product waste
* Keeps the packed nutrients clean from impurities

*Extends the shelf life of the packed products
*Ensures the protection form light, oxygen and bacteria – the perfect solution for modern lifestyle.
*The products remain fresh until the opening of the can.
Metal packaging with its extended shelf life provides protection against light, oxygen and bacteria and is an excellent solution for modern lifestyles. The can ensures products stay fresh until consumed contributing to value for money for consumers.
Metal continues to have immense potential for the development of innovative packaging solutions. The applications are unlimited, ranging from packs for chewing gum, microwaveable ready meals to aerosols and do-it-yourself (DIY) products.
Metal can solutions are continually being improved and developed to meet customer and consumer needs.
Hermetically closed, the metal packaging contributes to the complete preservation of the food from the moment of its closing.
Metal packaging allow the transportation and storage of harmful to people and environment materials.
Today, metal is used for a vast range of products and packaging solutions, yet designers continue to seek new opportunities to delight consumers. Cans come in many shapes, sizes and decorations for:
* Food
* Beverages
* Lifestyle and luxury products
* Personal hygiene
* Household products
* DIY
* Industrial

Convenience remains a key driver in packaging development for consumer packaged goods. Changes in family structures, flexible working and commuting hours, resulted in changing of the consumption habits. Smaller household units, more working women and mothers and busier lifestyles, the packaging industry has been constantly evolving to satisfy these changing needs.

Metal packaging enhances product safety by being both tamper proof as well as virtually unbreakable. Its barrier properties, which keep the goodness in and impurities out ensure that the content safely reaches the consumer, free from contaminants.
Canned foods are safe to eat for many years – ideal for today’s meal or tomorrow’s emergency. Cans do not need refrigeration or freezing. They provide total protection against light, oxygen and, being hermetically sealed, also protect food to keep the nutrients locked inside. Products are also protected against moister, dust, rodents and other contaminants.

Cans are typically 35% lighter than 20 years ago, but they are still unbreakable.
High-speed filling, at up to 1,500 cans a minute, saves significant amounts of energy compared with other packaging solutions.
Most can-making facilities are close to or next to filling lines, ensuring efficient and flexible delivery.
Stackable and tapered cans cater for efficient long-distance supply.
Empty cans can be stacked over eight meters high, making the best use of warehouse space.

The former metal is registered with printed graphics for maximum visual and tactile impact. Images and graphics, logos, tactile warning and brand identification features can all be enhanced.

Growing concern for the environment has led to increased consumer interest in packaging materials and their recyclability.
Metal packaging is 100% recyclable, infinitely, without loss of its inherent properties. It is a permanently available resource that is widely recycled globally and one of the most recycled packaging materials in Europe.
Steel and aluminum are among the most abundant recourses in the world although recycled materials significantly reduce the impact of processing on the environment.
Metal has the best recycling and recovery rates of all key competing packaging materials and is improving year on year:

*Recycling rates in 2010 were 72% for steel cans and 64% for aluminum drinks cans in EU
*Metal can be recycled an infinite number of times without loss of its essential properties
*Metal packaging collection for recycling is simple and cost efficient: cans are retrieved easily by any one of the multiple collection systems used across Europe
*Recycling reduces energy consumption and CO2 emissions significantly

Precise engineered features such as beading patterns and end panel designs have enabled light-weighting of the can by up to 35% over the last 20 years adding to its environmental credentials. Weight reduction will continue to be a feature of metal packaging in the years to come.