Impress joins canmakers to celebrate 2010 as the year of the can

Impress, together with other canmakers and industry bodies, is marking 2010 as the ‘Year of the Can’.

This milestone celebrates a product that today is seen in a multitude of forms, including paint cans, food cans, aerosols, and a wide range of speciality products.

The first ‘can’ was, in fact, an airtight glass container, developed in the 18th century by Parisian Nicolas Appert, in response to the French government’s request to find an effective way to preserve food.

Appert’s samples were trialled at sea by Emperor Napoléon1st and his soldiers.

When each can was opened and its contents tasted, “every one had retained its freshness,” said Appert.

Today, the can provides an outstanding, recycling record and constant light-weighting makes it a attractive and durable solution for the industry.

“Technological advancement and high speed production lines now allow modern canmakers to produce up to 1000 cans per minute, a far cry from the days of handmade cans”, says Francis Labbé, CEO Impress.