every can counts events

100,000 Cans & Counting: An Every Can Counts Summer

100,000 Cans & Counting: An Every Can Counts Summer 2560 1920 Phoebe Kelly

29 days , 62 recycling ambassadors and over 100,000 drink cans collected for recycling… Our summer of events has officially come to an end for another year!

And this summer, we’ve helped festival goers across the UK and Ireland recycle over 100,000 cans – a 59% year on year increase – while spreading the word about the importance of recycling.


Festival Fun: Recycling on the Go

Outdoor events and festivals are synonymous with summer, and this year, we made sure that Every Can Counts was at the heart of the action. We partnered with several major events and festivals to help spread the recycling message far and wide. Here are some highlights from each event:

The International Recycling Tour: Bristol City Centre

Our summer kicked off with the fourth installation of our International Recycling Tour, where we brought a giant polar bear installation made of recycled aluminium cans to mark World Environment Day.

Alongside the PixelCan, 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.

Click here to learn more about the PixelCan installation which appeared in Bristol.

Download Festival

We then headed to Donnington Park to spread the recycling message with one of our favourite crowds at Download Festival!

Our recycling ambassadors engaged with more than 2500 people, while festival-goers recycled over 30,000 cans in exchange for our #EveryCanCounts rewards, including our iconic ‘Metal Never Dies’ t-shirts and our Download keyrings made from recycled aluminium. And let’s not forget that thousands more cans were recycled in our voting bins and can-shaped backpacks!

The Red Bull Soapbox Race

We entered the #RedBullSoapboxRace to raise awareness about the importance of recycling drink cans… but we never imagined we’d end up on the podium! At this year’s Red Bull Soapbox Race in London, we placed third, beating 55 other teams with our aptly named Chitty Chitty Can Can to claim the bronze medal.

Our soapbox, our costumes and even our dance routine aimed to inspire people with the magic of can recycling, and we were blown away by the reception we received from the crowds at Ally Pally!

Click here to learn more about our journey to the podium at the soapbox race.

Stendhal Festival

Our team of recycling ambassadors returned to Stendhal Festival in Limavady, Northern Ireland. They brought their enthusiasm to the festival grounds as they interacted with attendees while carrying their iconic recycling backpacks and sparking meaningful conversations about the importance of recycling. We also brought our ‘I Heart Recycling’ can cages to the festival, providing a powerful visual reminder for everyone to responsibly recycle their empty cans.

2000trees

We returned to 2000Trees in July where everyone continued to show us their commitment to recycling by consistently filling our can cages throughout the festival! Over 12,000 cans were collected in our ‘I Heart Recycling’ cages and over 500 people took the time to stop and chat with our team of ambassadors who were roaming around the site to spread the Every Can Counts message.

Our recycling rewards were also a huge hit at 2000Trees, as many people rocked their recycling-themed temporary tattoos across the weekend.

Latitude Festival

Not only did we unveil a brand-new set of can cages, but we also brought our canny mascots to life at Latitude 2024! Adorned in over 300 drink cans, our canny mascots made quite the impression as they danced, hugged, and high-fived their way into everybody’s hearts!

An incredible 1500 people took part in our recycling questionnaire, with even more people getting into the recycling spirit and chatting to our team around the festival.

Putting the Fun into Recycling

At each event, our passionate team of recycling ambassadors collected drink cans using a variety of creative and innovative methods including:

  • Recycling rewards—We gave festival-goers at Download, Latitude and Electric Picnic the opportunity to win a special edition t-shirt or a keyring made from recycled aluminium by bringing our recycling ambassadors a bag of cans ready to be recycled!
  • Temporary tattoos – we offered recycling-themed tattoos to all the recycling superheroes at our events!
  • Fun ways to recycle your empty drink cans – we gave people the opportunity to cast a vote for their favourite headliner by recycling their cans in our voting bins. We also brought our iconic ‘I Heart Recycling’ cages to the Soapbox Race, Stendhal and 2000Trees; while the Latitude crowd could recycle their cans in our brand new LATITUDE recycling cages!
  • Our canny mascots – our recycling ambassadors took turns to wander around the site at the Red Bull Soapbox Race and Latitude in an iconic suit made from over 300 cans.
  • Our motorised soapbox – maybe you saw our eye-catching half-can, half-plane aluminium soapbox driving around the campsite villages at Download and Latitude to spread the recycling message!

Our Recycling Questionnaire

In addition to recycling drink cans, the ambassadors also gathered over 6,700 responses for Every Can Counts’ recycling survey, with the results revealing that festival goers would recycle more when they’re away from home if there were more recycling points.

Beaches and green spaces, streets, and shopping centres were named the top locations where people feel more drink can recycling points are needed.

Chris Latham-Warde, Programme Manager at Every Can Counts, said: “It’s been a fantastic summer working with major festivals and event organisers across the UK and Ireland, as well as our drink brand partners, to raise awareness about the importance of recycling.

“Thanks to the enthusiasm of festival goers and our dedicated team of ambassadors, we’ve not only recycled over 100,000 cans across the UK, but also hopefully inspired thousands to make recycling a part of their daily lives.

“Every can that is recycled can be back on the shelf in 60 days and if we work together, we can all enjoy greener festivals while getting closer to our goal of a 100% drink can recycling rate.”

Looking Ahead: Help Us To Keep The Cycle Going

If you came across the Every Can Counts team this summer and are now feeling inspired to make a difference, here’s a reminder of a few things you can do to make your empty cans count:

  1. Recycle your drink cans while you’re out and about. If there is no recycling bin around, hold on to your cans until you find one, or take them home and recycle them there.
  2. If you’re camping or picnicking in the great outdoors, bring some bags with you to separate your recycling from your general waste.  
  3. If you work or volunteer at an organisation without drink can recycling facilities, we can help you do something about it! Request a free Every Can Counts starter pack here to set up a can collection point.
  4. Help us spread the Every Can Counts message! Remember that aluminium recycles forever, and drink cans have the potential to go around the recycling loop in just 60 days. Help us get the word out there to those who don’t know and encourage everyone to recycle their cans on-the-go!

But the fun doesn’t stop here! We have plenty of exciting things planned for the coming months, with more events and initiatives in the pipeline. Together, we can continue to make a difference and make sure that every can really does count.

Thank you to everyone who joined us this summer!

Small Can, Big Picture: Our 2023 in Review

Small Can, Big Picture: Our 2023 in Review 2560 1707 Phoebe Kelly

We spread the Every Can Counts message far and wide in 2023, from art installations in city centres to activations at some of the UK’s biggest festivals and sports events.

It’s all part of our mission to inspire, encourage and empower people to recycle their empty cans – wherever they are.

Here’s an in-depth look at how we translated that mission into actions in 2023…

Our Installations & Exhibitions

The Infinity Room Goes on Tour

We started 2023 with a bang in January by exhibiting the #EveryCanCounts ‘Infinity Room’ at Dundee Science Centre.

Our immersive Infinity Room installation is shaped like a giant drink can and made using 1,500 smaller cans. The interior contains 25 square metres of mirrors and creates the illusion of a never-ending sea of aluminum cans, bringing to life the infinite potential of aluminium recycling. As you step inside, a narrator takes you on an educational journey highlighting the importance of recycling drink cans and the positive impact this small action can have on the planet.

The installation spent the summer at Catalyst Science Discovery Centre in Widnes, before moving to W5 Interactive Discovery Centre in Belfast ahead of National Recycle Week in October.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow in York

In celebration of Global Recycling Day (Saturday 18th March), we brought our iconic rainbow archway – made from over 2,500 recycled cans – to York city centre! The seven-metre-wide archway spent a week on display in Exhibition Square, in front of York Art Gallery, brightly highlighting the importance of popping empty cans into the right bin.

Read more about the Rainbow’s exhibition in York here!

The CANvas in Covent Garden

To celebrate Earth Day, we teamed up with Covent Garden and renowned street artist Jimmy C to create a unique art installation made from over 700 repurposed drink cans; the #EveryCanCounts CANvas.

Jimmy C drew in the crowds as he painted the wall of cans live in Covent Garden’s North Piazza, creating an Earth-themed artwork that inspired passers-by to do their bit for the planet.

The artist then returned a week later to create a second design on a new CANvas of recycled cans. This time the artwork featured a crown, to mark the upcoming coronation of King Charles III. This coronation-themed CANvas remained in Covent Garden for five weeks, becoming a popular photo opportunity for the many visitors to this busy London district.

A PixelCan Wall of Art for World Environment Day

To celebrate World Environment Day, we participated in the International Recycling Tour – an annual Every Can Counts event spanning 20 cities in 16 countries.

The International Recycling Tour is an opportunity for all the Every Can Counts programmes around the world to come together with a coordinated campaign. The mission is simple: inspiring people to recycle their empty drink cans and keep public spaces clean.

In the UK, we kicked things off in style with an eye-catching display at the Mighty Hoopla Festival in Brockwell Park. 2,000 recycled drink cans were transformed into a stunning, nature-inspired PixelCan wall of art, while a team of ECC ambassadors roamed the site collecting cans and engaging with festival goers.

Read more about the 2023 instalment of the International Recycling Tour here.

Our Summer at Events and Festivals

Each year our recycling ambassadors hit the road to spread the Every Can Counts message at festivals and events – and 2023 was no exception! Our team headed to 12 major events across the UK this summer, from the thrills of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix to the rock anthems of Download Festival in Donington Park.

We pulled out all the stops to engage attendees with our fun and educational activities. And with our recycling backpacks, can cages, and voting bins, we helped keep the party going while keeping the planet happy!

Our Every Can Counts Soapbox, which participated in the 2022 Red Bull Soapbox Race in London, proved to be a star of the show. Revamped for 2023 with an electric motor and a new body made from recycled aluminium, our soapbox continued to turn heads wherever it went.

And a special shout out to our drink brand partners – Pernod Ricard UK, Red Bull, Most Wanted Wines, White Claw Hard Seltzer, and Canned Wine Co – who joined forces with us to spread the Every Can Counts message at several festivals and events throughout the summer.  

If you’d like to learn more about our summer of recycling fun, click here to read our dedicated blog post!

Our 2023 Green Can Award Winners

A massive congratulations to Bodega 51 Can Bar and Haileybury School who each received a Green Can Award in 2023, in recognition of their sustainability efforts and ongoing commitment to recycling drink cans.

Students at Haileybury School were rewarded with a workshop led by social enterprise, Casting Innovations. During this workshop they learned about the infinite recyclability of aluminium, as well as the melting process, and were able to make their own keyring from recycled aluminium.  

Think you’ve got what it takes to be a Green Can Award winner? Apply on our website today!   

Or if you’re looking for some inspiration to start your own recycling scheme, click here to read about some of the incredible initiatives who are using drink can recycling to raise funds for charitable causes.

2024 here we come!

We’re now cooking up a storm of exciting plans for the year ahead and working on brand new installations and activities to take our message further than ever before! Get ready to be inspired as we take the next steps on our journey towards a 100% recycling rate for drink cans.

Make sure to follow us on social media for updates on our latest activities as the year unfolds!

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:

  • 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!

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.

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.