Every Can Counts UK celebrates its 15th anniversary

Every Can Counts, a not-for-profit communications programme with the vision of achieving a 100% recycling rate for drink cans, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. 

Established in Birmingham as a workplace recycling scheme back in 2009, ECC is now active in 21 countries across the world, including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, and, most recently, the United States.

27 ECC representatives from across the globe met in Prague ahead of the European Aluminium Packaging & Recycling Seminar to mark the milestone. The celebrations were accompanied by a meeting where representatives from each region shared local success stories, and the group discussed the next steps in the development of the programme’s global strategy.

The programme launched 15 years ago after the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) identified that many workplaces didn’t have the infrastructure for employees to recycle their drink cans.

Over the years, ECC has widened its focus to target and engage consumers beyond the workplace, encouraging people to recycle their empty cans wherever they are. When it started life, 54% of the UK’s aluminium drink cans were recycled and, since then, this has grown to 81%.

Through a range of creative partnerships and activations, ECC works to communicate the benefits of can recycling and improve out of home recycling facilities, with more than 19,000 of its drink can collection boxes distributed across the country since the programme was founded.

From its first festival appearance in 2010 to placing third in this year’s Red Bull Soapbox Race, ECC has taken its recycling message to over 150 festivals, brand and sports events. It has also directly partnered with 14 prominent drink brands, most recently launching a partnership with Molson Coors Beverage Company at the start of 2024.

ECC has toured the UK with several striking installations to inspire recycling, including its giant rainbow made of 2,500 recycled cans which has appeared in 13 locations over the years, including St Paul’s Cathedral and Glasgow during COP26.

The initiative’s annual International Recycling Tour – first launched in 2020 – has also worked to bring recycling to the forefront, with a different sustainability theme each year and a unique PixelCan artwork made from 2,000 recycled cans.

Along the way, the programme has also awarded 30 of its Green Can Awards to the businesses, organisations, and individuals going above and beyond within their communities when it comes to can recycling. Winners include the Crewe Clean Team, who have recycled over 200,000 used drink cans over the last decade.

With the support of ECC, 50 community groups in the UK have established can recycling collections in their local area, using this activity to inspire further positive change. For example, Cans4City has raised over £15,400 for Exeter City Community Trust by collecting more than 19 tonnes of drink cans.

Chris Latham-Warde, Programme Manager at Every Can Counts, said: “Since Every Can Counts was founded, the recycling rate for aluminium drink cans in the UK has increased by an impressive 27%. We’re incredibly proud of our contribution to this movement, beating the drum about the importance of recycling used drink cans and inspiring positive behaviour change.

“We’ve come a long way from humble beginnings in Birmingham to evolving into a global programme with an ever-growing team working hard to spread our message – including that every can recycled can be back on the shelf in 60 days and recycled time and time again.

“We can’t wait to see what the next 15 years have in store for us as we continue to inspire and empower individuals to recycle.”