Can Guinness Cans Be Recycled?

If you drink nitrogenated beer from a can (this includes beers like Guinness, Old Speckled Hen, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, Murphy’s Stout, Boddingtons Pub Ale and some others), you have probably noticed that there is a hollow plastic ball, or widget, inside the can. When you pop the top, the widget releases nitrogen gas, giving the beer its distinctive creamy head. (That’s the white foam on top for you non-beer drinkers.) The question is, once you’re done drinking it, can Guinness cans be recycled with this plastic ball inside?

Recycling Nitrogenated Cans

I have read some conflicting advice on how to handle nitrogenated cans, with some sources saying it’s best to cut the can open and remove the nitro widget, others saying that’s not necessary. I also know that at our local Materials Recovery Facility, a lot of the early sorting of materials is done by size and shape. So they may prefer a can to be in a traditional can shape rather than cut open and crushed.

At many aluminum recycling centers, cans are shredded and infrared lasers are then used to eliminate contaminating materials like plastic and glass as it passes by on a conveyor. And if you’ve read my article on plastic beer labels and stickers, you know that most of the recycling facilities can handle at least some plastic contamination.

But not all aluminum recycling plants have the same technology. So I asked around amongst some scrap metal dealers and metal recyclers to see if the plastic widget would be a problem. The consensus seemed to be that if you showed up at a scrap metal dealer with a large percentage of nitrogenated cans in the mix, they might consider it a contamination issue, but the can manufacturing plants can handle small amounts of plastic. It will get eliminated somewhere along the process. So if you want to take the extra step to cut open the can and get rid of the plastic widget, that’s a nice gesture, but probably not necessary. If you do cut the can open, be careful! Can edges are sharp!

Can the plastic beer widget be recycled?

If you cut your can open for recycling, you’ll be left with the plastic nitro widget. The widget or ball is generally made from polypropylene, or #5 plastic. Some recycling programs take #5 plastic, others don’t. But there is also the issue of size. My program doesn’t like small plastics (i.e. anything under about 2″ in diameter) because they fall through the disc screens at the sorting center. So there’s a good chance they may not want you to throw these into the recycling even if they do accept #5 plastic. Check with your recycling program. When in doubt, leave it out.

Related posts:

Do I Have to Remove Labels from Cans for Recycling? Can I Recycle Tea Tins, Coffee Cans and Cookie Tins? Can I Recycle Aluminum Foil? Is Your Glass Really Getting Recycled? It Depends.