Europe

Everyone was excited about events finally coming back after two years of cancellation due to the pandemic. And of course, our team in Austria  was ready to kick off a sustainable season full of exciting recycling activities all around the country.

Starting point was the Wings for Life World Run in Vienna in May, where together with Red Bull,Jede Dose zählt, raised awareness about the advantages of  drink can recycling among almost 10.000 runners and their friends, family and fans. With our recycling ambassadors , the VR game and other fun activities, our team educated people on site and online. 

Just a week after the Every Can Counts International Recycling Tour that also took place in Vienna and Graz, for the first time, Jede Dose zählt, cooperated with the organizers of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup mid June in Saalfelden Leogang (Salzburg). Our backpackers got lots of amazing feedback from visitors and collected hundreds of drink cans that can now be brought back into the recycling cycle.

During the beginning of July was the next event highlight that awaited our team: the Formula 1 Rolex Grand Prix of Austria 2022 in Spielberg (Styria). Never before have so many people visited the Formula 1 race in Austria – more than 300.000 visitors enjoyed the race. In the middle of this crowd, our recycling ambassadors not only contributed to a sustainable event and got lots of media attention for it, but also showed the fun side of recycling with the games they brought to the race track.

Jede Dose Zählt joins the Calle Libre Street Art Festival 

From August 1 to August 7, the Calle Libre Festival will take place in Vienna for the 9th time. With an unbeatable festival atmosphere and while the street art activations and numerous concerts take place, our Austrian initiative will be there celebrating “Regeneration”, this year’s motto of Calle Libre that focuses on environmental protection. 

During this year’s popular street art and music festival, international artists will transform the abandoned Nordwestbahnhof, a former train station in Vienna, into a huge outdoor art gallery. And Jede Dose Zählt will exhibit its own sustainable form of art with the colorful Every Can Counts Pixelata, that will be created by an artist with the help of the festival goers.

This interactive experience will make the event unforgettable, in terms of sustainability and environmental protection, as visitors will have the chance to create a work of art themselves from empty drink cans. Along with the Pixelata and the booth, our team will also set up exciting games that educate  people about the importance of drink can recycling.

And more to come in August, our Austrian initiative, is visiting again Spielberg for the Austrian MotoGP. In September, recycling will reach new heights at the Air Power in Zeltweg (Styria) and make sure once more to #KeepTheCycleGoing and that every consumed drink can ends up in the recycling bin!

With the goal of increasing the recycling rate of aluminum cans in the country, our initiative in Romania encourages companies to promote recycling among employees. From restaurants to festivals, universities to shopping centres, offices and public spaces – we’re working to encourage people to recycle their drink cans wherever they are.

To raise awareness among company employees, Every Can Counts Romania makes the collection infrastructure available to those interested and actively supports communication with employees. In this regard, DN1 Value Center, a shopping center near Bucharest, joined the Every Can Counts programme to facilitate separate collection in the office area of the shopping center by installing a collection system for 5 types of waste – aluminum cans, paper, plastic, glass, household waste.

‘’We try to support as much as possible the efforts of members of ecological organizations, who are always looking for beneficial solutions for the protection of the environment. Thus, we invited colleagues from the DN1 Value Center office to be curious and brave and participate in the recycling initiative. With small or big acts, we learn to collect selectively for a greener future’’, was stated by the DN1 Value Centre.

Our initiative in Serbia knows what summer is all about: Rocking with the crowd while keeping public spaces clean and raising awareness about the importance of drink can recycling. That’s the reason why Svaka limenka se računa kicked off this holiday season participating in some of the biggest events happening in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

OK FEST

In cooperation with Banjalučka Brewery and its brand, Nektar, Svaka limenka se računa participated in this year’s OK FEST that took place in Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina. From July 15 to July 17, our Serbian team made drink can recycling an easy game, setting up the all-time classic XO tic tac toe and the Every Can Counts Pixelata, made from 2.500 empty drink cans. Along with the interactive games, partying vibes, and recycling in the Every Can Counts backpacks, visitors could get one free drink in a can, for every five empty cans they recycled. 

EXIT Festival

Partnering up with Heineken Serbia and the Exit Foundation, Svaka limenka se računa took on the most exciting recycling adventure at the EXIT festival! By setting up three recycling stations: near the Academy, the Chill zone (near the No Sleep Novi Sad stage) and the Explosive stage, our team ensured that there was sufficient recycling infrastructure for the visitors to recycle their drink cans. But there’s more! Along with the themed Every Can Counts Pixelata, the Lotus installation  and the recycling ambassadors on site, Svaka limenka se računa revealed the programme’s latest innovation! A new digital system, installed in the metal letters I <3MUSIC, used for live counting the collected drink cans. As soon as it was revealed, the new installation became an attraction for both festival goers and the media.

Finally, one of the most notable highlights of the event was the joint video of Svaka limenka se računa with Konstrakta, the famous singer who represented Serbia in Eurovision 2022 and is now the first woman headliner and one of the most popular artists in the Balkans. Konstrakta encouraged people to recycle their empties while mentioning Svaka limenka se računa and its activations on stage. 

This summer, ExtravaCANza, the  campaign that is launched every year by Every Can Counts in Romania is traveling to a new location, one of the most vivid places in the country, Costinești, to reach younger holidaymakers and encourage them to recycle their empties regardless of their shape, size or color. 

Located on the shore of the Black Sea, this famous resort is a really popular holiday destination for young people and our team is there to collect and recycle every empty drink can while having fun under the sun. Using a VTMB machine to set up a recycling point, part of the ExtravaCANza campaign is to ensure that there is sufficient recycling infrastructure in the area, making it easier for vacationers to recycle their empties, while our ambassadors are raising awareness about the importance of drink can recycling on the beach.

With the support of our partners (Coca-Cola HBC, Bergenbier S.A., PENNY, GreenPoint Management), the small act of recycling every drink can and helping keep the beach clean is awarded! Some of the symbolic prizes include free drinks in cans and vouchers. 

After last year’s success our programme in Spain launches once again the “Circula tu lata” environmental campaign to promote a more sustainable way of life and drink can recycling on Spanish beaches. 

This year, Cada Lata Cuenta’s summer campaign returns to the beaches of La Caleta, Santa María, La Victoria and Cortadura, located in the south of the country (Cádiz, Andalusia) and also to the beaches of Riazor and Orzán, in the north (A Coruña, Galicia). The objective is to raise awareness about the importance of keeping public outdoor spaces clean. To do so, during the whole month of August, recycling ambassadors will roam these beaches, donning their vibrant backpacks and collecting cans to recycle and give them a new life. 

Additionally, in Cádiz, our initiative is cooperating with a group of can street vendors to  convey a 360-message highlighting the importance of recycling, from the  moment a drink can is purchased all the way to the recycling plant.

Stendhal Festival is a firm favourite for Northern Irish music lovers and this year marked its eleventh year anniversary. Running from Friday to Sunday, this three day festival takes place across 2 main fields housing 4 stages and 2 bars.

The Every Can Counts team were assigned an end of line wooden hut to set up a base in. Being end of line, this allowed for further expansion with a branded canopy and table. Can cages were also set up next to the BBC Radio tent, giving more media attention to the campaign taking place.

Across the weekend, the recycling ambassadors received high engagement and an enthusiastic response from the festival goers, in particular children who were eager to collect cans and fill the cages. As well as on the ground activity, including a total of 136 surveys, the Every Can Counts staff managed to secure two radio interviews with BBC Ulster. This amplified the reach of the main campaign message.

Overall, the event resulted in a successful weekend for the Every Can Counts programme in Ireland along with positive growth in awareness for the campaign initiative.

For a second year in a row, Ogni Lattina Vale joined forces with the Ente Parchi Marini Regionali della Calabria (Agency for the Regional Marine Parks of Calabria), CIAL (Italian National Consortium of Aluminium Packaging), Coca-Cola and 14 municipalities* in the area of the Marine Parks of Calabria, for the initiative “In the marine parks of Calabria… every can counts”.

After last years’ experience, during which over 150.000 cans were collected, this summer once again our recycling ambassadors put on their green backpacks to roam beaches, streets and squares in key locations, during the months of July and August. Their goal?  To separately collect every empty drink can, while encouraging consumers to keep public spaces clean and raising awareness among locals and vacationers about the importance of a circular economy and proper waste disposal. 

To support the cause, around 100 small waste separation and recycling areas will be set up on the beaches, including special bins for the separate collection of drink cans, marked by a customized sail so that visitors can recognize the areas dedicated to the initiative.

*Municipalities involved in the initiative: Praia a Mare (CS) – Diamante (CS) – Amantea (CS) – Belmonte Calabro (CS) – Vibo Valentia – Briatico (VV) – Zambrone (VV) – Parghelia (VV) – Tropea (VV) – Pizzo Calabro (VV) -Brancaleone (RC) – Bianco (RC) – Soverato (CZ) – Stalettì (CZ).

Every Can Counts UK ensured recycling took centre stage at this year’s Red Bull Soapbox Race in London by building and racing the Every Can Counts soapbox!

Watch the video below to see our Soapbox journey in full, from building and testing through to race day itself:

Our recycling-themed soapbox highlighted the infinite recyclability of drink cans, and its part-can, part-plane shape illustrated the varied uses for aluminium as a material.

70 teams tackled the obstacle-filled course in front of 18,000 spectators at London’s Alexandra Palace – and our soapbox was one of those that made it to the finish line! But only just – the final jump proved to be too much for the steering and ended with a crash! Watch the race in full below:

Every Can Counts UK Programme Manager, Chris Latham-Warde piloted the soapbox with co-pilot Tom Giddings, Alupro’s Executive Director. Cyclone Works’ Paul Bacon and Lee Cox completed the 4-person team as the expert engineers behind the can-shaped racing machine.

To ensure our initiative’s recycling message could be easily embraced by the spectators at Ally Pally, our team brought can recycling cages to the event along with an enthusiastic team who roamed the grounds collecting cans and chatting to attendees about the importance of recycling their empty cans.

Every Can Counts in Serbia recreated the most famous Vinča miniature statue, known as “Vidovdanka”, using recycled aluminium and it’s now available in the souvenir shop of Belgrade’s National Museum!

The event took place on June 19^th at the Republic Square in Belgrade as a part of our Serbian team’s campaign and it was supported by the recycling start-up Solagro and the national platform Serbia Creates, which also initiated the project to restore the archeological site Vinca Belo brdo.

Svaka limenka se računa along with a Vinča themed Pixelata, recycling bins and the programme’s recycling ambassadors were there to showcase live the remarkable process of melting aluminium and pouring it into molds to create new Vinča statuettes. Through the combination of Vinča’s “Vidovdanka”, which is the epitome of the aesthetic achievements of the Southeast European culture, and aluminium, that is a permanent material and infinitely recyclable, the event’s purpose was to raise awareness that recycling and sustainability are two of the main factors that drive the social and technological progress of our civilization.

It was in Vinča, 2.500 years before the construction of the great pyramids in Giza, that metalworking began for the first time in history. During this event, visitors had the chance to see how a few recycled aluminium cans can be used to create a miniature masterpiece that is based on the finest arts and crafts ever made by the Vinča culture.

‘’The Vinča statuette made of recycled aluminum cans symbolizes not only knowledge that has been passed down for generations and centuries, but also works as a reminder that we should continue on the same path as our ancestors, using new civilizational achievements, so we need to recycle ‘’ said Jelena Petljanski Kiš, Board Member of Every Can Counts Europe and added: “It is an exceptional honor for us to cooperate with the Vinca Belo brdo site, where the first traces of metal processing in the world were found. «Throughout history, metals have been melted down and turned into new objects. Today, cans, which are made of aluminum, can also be recycled. In Europe, 76% of cans are recycled, but we want to reach 100%.”

‘’The Vinca Belo Brdo site – one of the most significant examples of European and world cultural heritage – has been neglected for decades. At the initiative of the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Platform Serbia Creates, the revitalization of this site was declared the Capital Project of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, thus taking the first step not only in preserving but also presenting the treasure only 20 kilometers from downtown Belgrade. As a center of Neolithic sites throughout Serbia, this is a symbol of unity, creativity and innovation that the people of Vinča left us as a legacy,” said Bojana Višekruna, advisor to the Prime Minister of Serbia for creative industries and science.