Kosice, September 21, 2011 - The conference "Steel packaging - Green Solutions for Central Europe" was held in Kosice to stress the importance of steel packaging from the points of view of sustainability and environmental protection. This kind of event was organized in Central Europe for the first time and representatives of steel producers and customers, state and regional governments from 13 European Union countries took part here.

David J. Rintoul, President of U. S. Steel Kosice underlined that "production, consumption and recycling of steel packaging creates great potential for the whole region, for business here as well as for environmental protection". Steel packaging is permanently recyclable and in comparison to other packaging materials its transportation, storage and manipulation is easier. Philip Buisseret, managing director of APEAL, the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging, added that "steel recycling means an important contribution to natural raw materials savings and reduces dependence of European producers on foreign raw materials sources." The conference message might be "No can to landfill", not only for the general public, but also for state officials, who can prepare legal and organizational bases for increasing the percentage of recycled steel packaging.

The conference "Steel Packaging - Green Solutions for Central Europe" was co-organized by APEAL and U. S. Steel Kosice. The companies associated in APEAL since 1986 currently employ more than 200 thousand people in Europe and produce 95% of overall European steel production. This steel is primarily used for making drink cans and food tins, as well as for other recyclable packaging for the grocery, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

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Further information:

Jan Baca
spokesman
U. S. Steel Kosice, s.r.o.
Tel.: +421 55 673 4476
Fax: +421 55 673 0330