Strengthening Responsibility in Aluminium Recycling: CARE Project Workshop Highlights Market Dynamics and Due Diligence Challenges
The CARE (Collective Action for Recycling and Empowerment) Project recently held an interactive and insightful workshop focused on Due Diligence and Market Dynamics in Aluminium Scrap Value Chains.
21 August 2025
Facilitated by One Planet on behalf of the Roundtable for Responsible Recycling of Metals (RRRM), the workshop provided a rare opportunity for stakeholders to openly discuss the real-world complexities of traceability, responsibility, and fair value distribution in the aluminium scrap value chain — particularly in the context of Colombia, where informal labour and cross-border trade are common features. This event was a critical milestone in building mutual understanding and co-developing approaches that balance global due diligence expectations with on-the-ground realities.
The event was organised in the framework of the CARE Project, which is coordinated by ASI and supported by ISEAL with the goal of promoting more transparent, fair, and responsible recycling systems that include and empower informal actors.
Due Diligence: What It Is and Why It Matters
The concept of due diligence can sound technical, but its core is simple: companies must take steps to ensure their supply chains are not harming people or the planet. This includes identifying risks, taking action to prevent harm, monitoring progress, and being transparent about their impacts.
In the following video, One Planet provides a clear and accessible overview of OECD-aligned due diligence, breaking down the six key steps and why they’re increasingly being adopted by responsible companies. watch time: 47 minutes
While due diligence has traditionally focused on raw material extraction, growing awareness and regulation are pushing companies to apply the same standards to secondary (recycled) materials, including aluminium from cans and other consumer goods. But applying those expectations to the recycling sector that often includes informal supply chains, especially in countries like Colombia, is far from straightforward.
A Value Chain Full of Gaps… and Opportunities
Workshop participants highlighted a key reality: while aluminium is economically valuable, making up to 10% of income for some waste pickers in Bogota and Barranquilla, even when aluminium represents only 1% of the materials collected, the system for collecting, aggregating, and processing aluminium scrap is highly fragmented and mostly undocumented, especially in early stages. This makes traceability and standardised risk management extremely challenging.
Still, many inspiring examples of traceability emerged during the workshop:
- Some municipalities are tracking routes and weights of collected materials.
- Cooperative networks like CEMPRE are pioneering ticketing systems to formalise transfers and reward responsible behaviour.
- Companies like CROWN are piloting closed-loop systems, where used beverage cans are collected and returned to production.
Yet challenges remain. For instance, once scrap aluminium leaves Colombia for recycling abroad, there is no system to trace it back, even if it later returns as part of a new can or product. And despite policies requiring drink companies to track the contents of beverages, there is no equivalent requirement for the aluminium packaging itself.
Real Voices, Real Solutions
To make the discussion tangible and collaborative, the workshop included a live whiteboard session, where participants contributed insights on current documentation practices, policy gaps, and innovative tools in development. These insights were captured on a whiteboard that offers an authentic look at the ground-level experiences and challenges:
Inside the Discussion – Traceability and Responsibility in Aluminium Scrap
From upstream waste pickers to downstream traders and exporters, all voices were heard, and all agreed on one point: progress must start with realistic, inclusive, and incremental solutions.
What’s Next?
Some of the most promising ideas from the workshop include:
- Piloting traceability with organised actors where documentation already exists.
- Using mass balance models (like ASI’s CoC) to enable responsible sourcing when full traceability isn’t feasible.
- Advocating for policy reform to align packaging traceability with existing beverage regulations.
- Scaling up public campaigns that frame aluminium cans as valuable, much like “finding coins on the street”.
- Supporting collective action through cooperatives to raise safety and other standards for waste pickers such as by providing PPE and helping pickers formalise their rights.
Importantly, the workshop reinforced the need to revalue aluminium in the public eye and to ensure waste pickers receive a fairer share of the value they help recover.
As CARE and its partners continue this journey, future events will build on these foundations, bringing together more voices, surfacing more data, and working toward systems that work for everyone, from the street corner to the global supply chain.
Stay tuned for more updates and resources from the CARE project, and don’t forget to check out both videos to deepen your understanding of how responsible aluminium recycling can benefit people, business, and the planet.
For more information or to get involved, contact Gabriel Carmona Aparicio, ASI’s Circularity Research Manager.
This project is possible thanks to a grant from the ISEAL Innovations Fund, which is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and UK International Development from the UK government.
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