Official RetuRO data analysed by Every Can Counts shows an increase from 21.6% in the first quarter of 2024 to 29.3% in the second quarter of 2026. One driver of this growth is the younger generation, drawn to the graphic freedom the can offers and to its infinite recyclability.
Since the launch of the Deposit Return System at the end of 2023, the aluminium can has risen visibly within Romania’s beverage packaging mix. According to official RetuRO reports, metal’s share of all DRS packaging placed on the market grew from 21.6% in the first quarter of 2024 to 29.3% in the second quarter of 2026. The same trend appears in returns, where metal reached 28.8%, up from 18.7% at the start of the system.
That is an increase of almost eight percentage points in two years, in a market where plastic remains dominant but is declining: from 61% to 51% of volumes placed on the market over the same period. Glass has held steady, at around 20%.
Metal rises quarter after quarter
The can’s share has grown steadily since 2024, peaking in the second quarter of 2026, which points to a structural trend. The explanation lies in several overlapping factors: the widening range of beverages sold in cans, a clearer consumer preference for lightweight, portable packaging, and a context in which aluminium is becoming the material of choice for brands building their identity around sustainability.
The trend also holds internationally. According to an April 2026 McKinsey analysis, the metal packaging segment continued to show steady volume growth, and in certain categories metal is gaining market share thanks to portability, recyclability, and premiumisation trends.
The aluminium can is recycled indefinitely, with no loss of quality, and can return to the shelf in as little as 60 days. Every recycled can saves up to 95% of the energy needed to produce a new one from raw materials.
The can as a space for brand expression
The can’s rise also has a cultural dimension, most visible among younger consumers. The surface of the can works as a continuous canvas, with no separate label and no interruptions, giving designers a creative space that other packaging materials cannot match. Today’s metal printing technologies allow intense colours, matte finishes, phosphorescent inks, and limited editions, and producers offer dozens of sizes and decoration techniques for brands looking to stand out on the shelf.
For young consumers, packaging has become an extension of personal style. An article published by Ad Age in 2024 found that 81% of Gen Z consumers have tried a product because of its packaging, and 63% repeated the purchase for the same reason. The same generation sees metal as the most environmentally responsible choice, according to 2024 McKinsey research indicating that 60% of young people prefer recyclable packaging. Across Europe, a study conducted by the agency Caramel for Sonoco found that 82% of consumers are more likely to buy a product that comes in metal packaging.
These preferences explain why more and more beverage brands are choosing the can: on the shelf, it becomes part of how they are recognised.
Romanians want recycling to become an experience
The Deposit Return System built the habit of recycling quickly. Romania’s national recycling rate for aluminium cans reached 75% in 2025, more than double the level of 2022, when European Commission data indicated just 35%. Yet the Every Can Counts Global Study 2025, based on a sample of more than 16,000 participants across 16 countries, including 1,013 in Romania, shows that Romanians want more from the act of recycling.
Three in four Romanians (75%) say they would recycle more if the experience were more enjoyable or more interactive, through rewards, games, or apps that track and celebrate recycling. At the same time, Romanians are among the most engaged consumers in the world: 71% feel personally responsible for recycling, the highest figure globally, and 91% believe producers should be required to use packaging that is fully recyclable or made from recycled materials.
The data points to a market ready for more than automated collection: Romanians want more accessible return points (38%) and a faster process (41%), but above all an experience that gives the gesture meaning.
“The fact that more and more brands are choosing the aluminium can is good news for circularity. It is a packaging that is infinitely recyclable and already collected at scale, which means that every can recycled can become another can, in as little as 60 days. When people see how quickly the loop closes, recycling becomes a gesture with meaning. That is what we set out to do at Every Can Counts: to bring circularity closer to people, so that every can truly counts.” said David Van Heuverswyn, Global Director of Every Can Counts.
From the shelf to an art installation
Every Can Counts Romania responds directly to this need through visible projects and interactive activations with the public. The “I CAN” installations, made entirely from aluminium cans by Romanian artist Sergiu Chihaia, turn recycling into an experience people can see and touch. Through campaigns and public art projects, the programme brings circularity closer to people and gives an everyday gesture a moment of cultural impact.
Counties with strong sustainability initiatives, such as Bucharest, Timiș, Cluj, Ilfov, and Constanța, lead the national rankings for recycling rates.
Data sources: RetuRO; the Every Can Counts Global Recycling Habits and Attitudes 2025 study; Ad Age, 2024; McKinsey research, 2024; the McKinsey analysis “No ordinary disruption: State of the packaging and paper industry,” April 2026; and the Caramel study for Sonoco.
*This is a press release.
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