As Aluminum Runs Dry, Bag-in-Box Presents a Sustainable Solution

Aluminum Shortages Will Continue to Persist, But Bag-in-box Has Always Been a Better Solution

As we approach the one year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, reports of changing consumer habits have been widely covered. Some shifts in consumer behaviors are obvious—people can’t go out to bars or restaurants so they’re buying more beverages, like soda and coffee, to drink at home—but some of the consequences of these changing habits aren’t quite as evident. Case in point: we’re currently experiencing an aluminum can shortage.

“The big game right now is just figuring out how to get our hands on as many cans as we can,” says David Racino, CEO of American Canning. On February 2, 2021, the Brewers Association (BA), a trade organization that represents craft brewers, sent an open letter to can manufacturers and the Can Manufacturers Institute requesting swift access to more aluminum. “Some brewers are learning their purchase orders for Q1 deliveries have been canceled,” BA President and CEO Bob Pease writes. “Others are being told that they will not be able to get cans until the second quarter of 2021.”