events

  • Phoebe Kelly

Giant Polar Bear Installation Prowls Bristol City Centre

Giant Polar Bear Installation Prowls Bristol City Centre 2560 1703 Phoebe Kelly

As part of our fourth annual International Recycling Tour, a giant polar bear installation made of recycled aluminium cans appeared on Bristol’s Centre Promenade on June 5th to mark World Environment Day!

Made from 2,000 cans, the PixelCan artwork was created to shine a light on species which are currently endangered or vulnerable due to ecosystem degradation.

Alongside the stunning art piece, our dedicated ambassadors were also at the promenade, embodying our mission to promote the recycling of drink cans consumed outside the home and inviting the public to recycle their empty cans on the go.

Our team of ambassadors worked hard to raise awareness about the importance of recycling drink cans while collecting cans in their recycling backpacks.

The International Recycling Tour

The polar bear installation forms part of the fourth edition of our annual International Recycling Tour, which also launched on World Environment Day following new data revealing that a record 10.7 billion cans were recycled in the UK in 2023.

The tour aims to highlight the importance of drink can recycling in saving valuable resources and mitigating climate change.

This year, the tour has made a bold visual statement with its PixelCan artworks of endangered animals including a sea turtle, tiger, and chimpanzee, alongside the polar bear in Bristol.

Encouraging individuals across the globe to become #GenerationRestoration, the initiative is taking place simultaneously in 16 cities including Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Click here to learn more about the International Recycling Tour!  

David Van Heuverswyn, Director of Every Can Counts Global, said: “Our vision is to achieve 100% global drink can recycling! Every can recycled can be back on the shelf in 60 days, and campaigns like the International Recycling Tour bring us one step closer to this vision, demonstrating the power of collective action in creating a truly circular economy for the benefit of both people and nature.

“Here in Bristol, we’re proud to celebrate our tour for the first time with a unique polar bear PixelCan installation to tie into World Environment Day.”

Every Can Counts is a unique partnership formed between drink can manufacturers, drink can fillers and the wider recycling industry, all with the goal of reaching a 100% recycling rate for drink cans.

The programme provides free recycling support to businesses and organisations throughout Ireland and around the globe, reaching 183.5 million people worldwide in 2023 alone and helping recycle over 55 million drink cans through event activations and partnerships.

  • Phoebe Kelly

Recycling In Style For World Environment Day At Mighty Hoopla

Recycling In Style For World Environment Day At Mighty Hoopla 2560 1707 Phoebe Kelly

To mark World Environment Day on the 5th June, we attended Mighty Hoopla festival as part of the third #EveryCanCounts International Recycling Tour!

What is the International Recycling Tour?

The International Recycling Tour is an awareness campaign which aims to mark World Environment Day and champion sustainable living, whilst encouraging people to keep outdoor public spaces clean and to recycle their empty drink cans wherever they go.

This year’s initiative took place simultaneously in 16 countries including Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.  

The theme for 2023 revolved around each participating country designing and displaying a PixelCan installation in a public space to encourage everyone to do the right thing and recycle their drink cans!

Click here to learn more about the International Recycling Tour.

Iconic Recycling at Mighty Hoopla Festival

As part of the International Recycling tour in the UK, we unveiled a nature-inspired installation at pop music festival, Mighty Hoopla, in London’s Brockwell Park.

Made up of 2,000 drink cans, the PixelCan artwork featured tiger eyes designed to have a ‘watching effect’ over festival goers to encourage them to do the right thing and recycle their drink cans.

In addition to the PixelCan artwork, eight of Every Can Counts’ dedicated ambassadors also helped to raise awareness of the importance of recycling by spreading the ‘aluminium recycles forever’ message.

We never knew that there were so many different ways to recycle your drink can – from voguing to death drops, the possibilities were endless… much like the infinite recyclability of aluminium!

What we Had to Say About the International Recycling Tour!

Chris Latham-Warde, Programme Manager for Every Can Counts UK and Ireland, said: “From the banks of the Danube in Vienna and Budapest to Brixton in London, this year’s International Recycling Tour will see our signature PixelCan innovation pop up in iconic locations across the world. Not only will the pixelated mural captivate viewers from a distance, but it will also act as a symbol of the infinite possibilities of aluminium recycling, which is the message we’re trying to spread across the UK and beyond this World Environment Day.”

David Van Heuverswyn, Director of Every Can Counts Europe, added: “By coming together to celebrate World Environment Day and embracing the endless potential of aluminium recycling, we aim to inspire behaviour change and help reach 100% can recycling in Europe and beyond. That’s why we are inviting everyone — consumers, local authorities, brands, and event organisers — to join forces and find better ways to recycle on-the-go, while having fun doing so.”

  • Phoebe Kelly

2022 In Review: What We’ve Been Doing To Encourage Drink Can Recycling (And How You Can Help Us Spread The Message In 2023)

2022 In Review: What We’ve Been Doing To Encourage Drink Can Recycling (And How You Can Help Us Spread The Message In 2023) 1920 2560 Phoebe Kelly

Did you know? 82% of drink cans sold in the UK are recycled and the aluminium drink can recycling rate is 73% across Europe as a whole, helping to make drink cans the most recycled beverage container on the planet! But we believe that with your help, we can achieve a 100% drink can recycling rate.

Watch our 2022 highlights video below to see us in action working towards this goal:

Here’s a closer look at what we’ve been up to in 2022 to inspire you to recycle your empty cans:

The #EveryCanCounts Rainbow

  • We took the #EveryCanCounts Rainbow to Covent Garden in March and had so many wonderful responses from everybody who posted a pic of themselves with our installation on social media. Click here to read the full story!
  • To celebrate Earth Day in April we took our rainbow to Newcastle and met Bruce the pug who you all loved on our socials! Click here to read the full story!
  • We took our rainbow to St James’s Park in June to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee! A special Jubilee-themed PixelCan wall display was also on display near the Mall and provided the perfect photo opportunity for those enjoying the celebrations.
  • For Recycle Week, we took our rainbow to Liverpool city centre to show everyone just how magical recycling can be. Click here to read the full story!

Launch of the Infinity Room

  • In October, as part of Recycle Week, we launched our brand new immersive mirror installation in Glasgow Science Centre: The #EveryCanCounts Infinity Room.
  • This installation is made from 1500 recycled cans. Once inside, the mirrored room gives the illusion of being surrounded by an endless amount of suspended drink cans, illustrating the infinite recyclability of aluminium.
  • The Infinity Room will remain on display in Glasgow Science Centre until 8th January 2023 before embarking on a UK tour next year. More dates and locations to follow.

Our First Ever Red Bull Soapbox Race

Despite attending many Red Bull Soapbox Races to inspire and encourage drink can recycling, we’d never had the nerve to actually take part with our very own soapbox… until this year!

Our soapbox was half-can, half-plane to illustrate the varied uses for aluminium once it’s recycled. Chris, our driver, and Tom, our co-pilot, reached an impressive 28mph while speeding down the hill at Alexandra Palace, all in the name of drink can recycling.

Click here to read the full story!

Festivals and Events

Every year we attend a series of festivals and events during the main summer period to help spread the Every Can Counts message and educate people on the importance of drink can recycling. This summer we had a presence at 15 major events around the country!

How We Encourage Drink Can Recycling at Festivals and Events:

The Every Can Counts Ambassadors:

Our summer team is the beating heart of festival season. You’ll often find them wearing their iconic can-shaped backpacks and they’ll either be wandering the campsites or based at our pitch, where you’ll also find voting bins and a chill out zone. Don’t be afraid to chat to our team if you have any questions about drink can recycling!

Our Can Recycling Backpacks:

The Every Can Counts ambassadors bring the recycling bin to you! These are wearable recycling bins which we will take around the festival campsites to collect any cans you might want to recycle while on-the-go.

Recycling Rewards:

As an incentive to recycle as many of your empty cans as possible, we’ll often be giving out recycling rewards such as festival-branded T-shirts, keyrings made from recycled cans and temporary tattoos.

Green Can Awards

Our Green Can Awards celebrate those who have gone above and beyond when it comes to drink can recycling. Over the years we’ve presented awards to businesses, community groups, local initiatives and individuals. This year we gave awards to two fantastic community-focussed initiatives:

  • January: We presented an award to Cans 4 City, a drink can recycling scheme raising funds for Exeter City Football Club in partnership with Exeter City Council. Read the full press release here.
  • November: We presented Crewe Clean Team with an award for their incredible recycling efforts in their local community, collecting 200,000 cans in just 11 years. Read the full press release here.

Key Statistics

Drink Can Recycling Rate

  • The drink can recycling rate remains at an all-time high of 82%!
  • If you’re interested in learning more, check out this amazing fact sheet from Alupro.

Festival & Event Survey Statistics

Our team of ambassadors complete recycling surveys with attendees at festivals and events, and this year they completed over 9,800! Here’s what we learned:

Where would you like to see more drink can recycling points?

  • Beaches and green spaces: 66%
  • On the street: 64%
  • Music and Sports events: 54%

Your favourite DRINK CAN recycling fact!

  • “Aluminium drink cans are endlessly recyclable”: 42%
  • “Every drink can you recycle reduces the carbon footprint of the next one made”: 30%
  • “Empty cans are recycled and back on the shop shelf as a brand-new can in just 60 days”: 27%

TLDR

In 2022 we spread the recycling word at:

  • 11 music festivals
  • 4 city centre locations with the #EveryCanCounts Rainbow
  • 2 events with our PixelCan display (the Platinum Jubilee and Download Festival)
  • 2 race weekends at Silverstone Circuit (Formula 1 and MotoGP)
  • A brand-new Infinity Room installation in Glasgow Science Centre
  • Our first ever Red Bull Soapbox Race!

Key Takeaways:

  • The drink can recycling rate is at an all-time high of 82% but we want to keep raising the bar and ultimately reach 100%.
  • Over the summer, attendees at festivals and events completed over 9800 of our recycling surveys! That means our Recycling Ambassadors directly spread the Every Can Counts message to nearly 10,000 people this summer!
  • You told us you want to see more ‘on-the-go’ can recycling points, whether this is at beaches & green spaces, music & sports events or on the street.
  • We have delivered a total of 300 free recycling packs to businesses, charities and local groups who want to improve their drink can recycling rates.
  • We have given a Green Can Award to two fantastic community-focussed initiatives: Cans 4 City in Exeter and Crewe Clean Team.

How you can join us on our mission to achieve a 100% drink can recycling rate:

Every Can Counts x Canned Wine Co.
  • Keep recycling those empty cans! They’re incredibly easy to recycle and can be back on the shop shelf within 60 days after they’re collected. 
  • If you can’t find a recycling bin while you’re on-the-go, take your empty can home with you!
  • Businesses, community groups and charities can order a free recycling pack from us to help encourage drink can recycling on the go.
  • You can make money from the cans you collect and recycle and put it towards a good cause! Aluminium is the most valuable material in your recycling bin.
  • Learn more about the recycling process and help us spread the word.

You can learn more here:

Share this post on social media and let us know if you’ve seen any of our work this year and what you’ve learned from us so far!

Is there anything else you’d like to see us do in 2023? Get in touch!

  • Phoebe Kelly

Looking Back on a CANtastic Summer of Recycling Fun!

Looking Back on a CANtastic Summer of Recycling Fun! 2560 1920 Phoebe Kelly

Ah the hazy memories of summer recycling fun…

From rocking out with metalheads at Download Festival, to discovering the mysteries of Lost Village Festival, we have spread the recycling word far and wide this summer and met some incredible people along the way. Watch the video below to see us rock out at our first festival of the season:

We collected cans trackside at the Formula 1 and MotoGP races at Silverstone and found ourselves on the track itself at the Red Bull Soapbox Race! At music festivals we offered t-shirts and keyrings made from recycled cans as recycling rewards and we decorated festival goers (and sometimes ourselves) in recycling themed temporary tattoos.

And let’s not forget about our iconic can cages! Don’t be mistaken, those beautiful cages don’t stay spotless by themselves. Behind the scenes our team have been emptying those cages and bagging up your cans, ready to be taken away and recycled.

But now, after an unforgettable summer of can recycling fun, we’re saying goodbye to festival life for another year. Will we miss emptying those juicy cages? Probably not. But will we miss seeing you guys proactively recycling your cans and filling them up every day? Absolutely!

Here’s a taste of the recycling fun that we’ve had this summer:

Download Festival:
The one where we created the iconic Download Dog PixelCan and everyone flocked to our gazebo to claim their recycling rewards.

Stendhal Festival:
Our first one in Northern Ireland, a.k.a the one in the rain… But that didn’t stop our team from getting out and about and filling up their recycling backpacks!

Formula 1 British Grand Prix:
The one with the biggest crowd! With over 400,000 people attending across the weekend, our team were never short of people to chat to.

Red Bull Soapbox Race:
The one where we took to the racetrack and our drivers risked their lives in the name of can recycling! Click here to read more about our Soapbox experience.

2000trees Festival:
The one where we slept to the sound of heavy metal every night and met some incredible recycling heroes.

Latitude Festival:
The one where our team proved themselves by conquering the dust and the heat to spread the recycling word around the campsites and main arena.  

MotoGP British Grand Prix:
The one where our team roamed the circuit and spread the word that recycled cans might one day end up as an aluminium component in a motorbike!  

Wilderness Festival:
The boutique one where our team went into the wilderness to seek out those who were willing to embrace their wild side and recycle their cans in style.  

Boomtown Festival:
The one where you guys brought the fun to us in the blazing heat (and huddled under our gazebo to escape the sun).

Boardmasters Festival:
The one on the beach… We’re still finding sand in our can recycling backpacks to this day!

Big Feastival:
The one where we partnered with Canned Wine Co. to bring our can cages and a beautiful new-look design for our recycling backpacks to The Cotswolds.

Lost Village Festival:
The one where nothing was as it seemed. Our final festival and a time to say goodbye to a summer of can recycling fun! Watch the video below to see us in action at our final festival of the season:

Thank you to everyone who chatted, danced, laughed and recycled with our team. And thanks to all the festivals and events who have welcomed us on site this summer!

We hope our team left you all with some lasting memories so that when you finish a drink from an aluminium can, you’ll remember to pop it in the recycling bin wherever you are.

  • ChrisUK

MAKING EVERY CAN COUNT AT THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX

MAKING EVERY CAN COUNT AT THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2081 2081 ChrisUK

We joined forces with Silverstone race circuit to encourage people to recycle their empty drink cans at this year’s British Grand Prix.

With a crowd of over 140,000 fans in attendance at the race on Sunday, and 350,000 in attendance across the weekend, the 2021 British Grand Prix became the largest event to take place in the UK since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

And with 30 degree heat over the weekend, there was no shortage of cans being enjoyed around the circuit. We knew we were in the right place to make a real difference!  

Our partnership with Silverstone brought two head-turning can recycling installations to the event: our famous #EveryCanCounts Rainbow installation and brand new SILVERSTONE can recycling cages. Both installations were hugely popular photo opportunities, providing race fans with a lasting memory of their British Grand Prix experience while also keeping recycling front of mind.

While the cars were racing around the track, we also had a team of recycling ambassadors doing laps of their own around the venue. Our team conducted recycling surveys and spread the word about the benefits of recycling drink cans, while their can recycling backpacks made it easier for attendees to recycle around the circuit.

We’d like to think our messaging impacted Sebastian Vettel over the weekend, who stuck around after the Grand Prix to take part in a litter pick. Any cans collected during the pick were separated at a sorting facility and then recycled. Vettel commented: “I think it is important that we all respect the environment and don’t rely on other people to clear up after us. We have to start somewhere and each one of us can make a difference now.” Well said Seb – we couldn’t agree more!

Our ‘CAN do’ attitude clearly rubbed off on reigning champion Lewis Hamilton too, who took a crowd-pleasing home victory in Sunday’s race which only enhanced the electric atmosphere around the circuit.

We really enjoyed our first ever British Grand Prix and want to thank everyone who recycled their cans with us over the weekend. Aluminium recycles forever, so who knows – maybe those recycled cans will end up as part of a racing car doing laps around Silverstone one day! ♻️

Want to find out more about Every Can Counts? Get in touch with our team here.


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