The government has been criticized for insufficient policies for aluminum can recycling, as the number of Koreans choosing aluminum cans as their most preferred beverage packaging material rose from a year earlier, signaling a growing preference for more recyclable materials. The Seoul Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) released the findings Thursday, after a survey of 1,011 adults nationwide on the occasion of Global Recycling Day, marked annually on March 18. The latest poll followed a previous one conducted in February 2025. When asked about their most preferred beverage packaging material, 34.7 percent of respondents chose aluminum cans, up 10.8 percentage points from the previous year. Plastic bottles remained the top choice at 43.4 percent, but the results were interpreted as a sign of shifting consumer sentiment toward more recyclable packaging. Nearly 8 in 10 respondents agreed that recycling materials without losing their original properties is important to mitigate the climate crisis. Even so, only about half were aware that aluminum cans can be infinitely recyc