the organisation
Aluminium’s power is in its versatility
Mining and Refining
Primary Production
Aluminium in Consumer Products
selected links
Explore the Cycle
Our Aluminium data repository
This session explores how aluminium cans generate significant social and economic value across the global value chain. The aluminium sector directly employs 1.6 million people, while an estimated 15–20 million waste pickers worldwide play a vital role in post-consumer scrap recovery and maintaining high recycling rates.
Despite their critical contribution to reducing emissions through recycling, waste pickers are often excluded from climate finance mechanisms and policy discussions. The panel will examine pathways to formally integrate informal waste pickers into organized recycling markets, aligning with global standards for responsible and inclusive recycling.
Recognizing and empowering waste pickers directly supports SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action)—advancing both circularity and social equity in the aluminium can value chain.
