To engage festivalgoers, Každá plechovka se počítá set up an interactive opinion board, inviting passers-by to guess how many drink cans are recycled in the Czech Republic every year. This short, playful activity worked as an easy entry point: it caught attention, sparked curiosity and naturally opened a longer conversation about can recycling and responsible disposal. That allowed the ECC team to smoothly transition into discussing the value of aluminium, a material that can be recycled again and again without losing its quality. 

A key support for the initiative was the recently established collaboration with the local beverage producer PRAGERS, who provided drink samples in aluminium cans. This sampling gave ECC ambassadors a seamless, positive way to interact with visitors, offering a great opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of aluminium recycling. Throughout the entire festival, the recycling ambassadors with their iconic backpacks were on the ground collecting empty cans on the spot and spreading the message that every can really counts.

The event’s biggest attention driver was the Every Can Counts mascot, Canny. With its striking visual appearance and the distinctive rattling sound of the cans, Canny encouraged festivalgoers of all ages to stop for photos, while also generating fresh, engaging social media content on- site.

Across six Polish cities and twelve festival days, this initiative gave festivalgoers the chance to see the Deposit-Return-System (DRS) in action, encouraging them to return their empty drink cans through a simple and rewarding deposit-return experience. Nine outdoor reverse vending machines collected cans, with deposits credited directly to visitors’ credit cards or mobile devices. Also, throughout the tour, the ECC recycling ambassadors were on site with their iconic backpacks to guide visitors along the process and spread the message about the infinite recyclability of aluminium.

The final event in Warsaw brought an extra spark with a spectacular PIXELATA installation inviting people to return uncrushed cans and instantly reclaim their deposit. Alongside this installation, the creative activation “Oddaj Sztukę. Zgarnij Sztukę” (Return a piece. Take a piece.) added another layer of excitement. Festivalgoers who returned their empty cans to the vending machines were rewarded with exclusive prints created by local street artists.

By combining convenient recycling infrastructure, creativity and consumer engagement, Męskie Granie and Grupa Żywiec demonstrated how breweries can help make recycling a natural part of the festival experience.

Our UK local chapter was on-site to raise awareness about drink can recycling, spreading the message that every can you recycle can be back as a new one again and again without losing its quality.

A highlight of the activation was the launch of the brand-new ECC Butterfly Wings installation, created from approximately 900 recycled drink cans. This new installation provided festival-goers with a unique photo opportunity while also helping to spark conversations about the importance of drink can recycling.

The ECC recycling ambassadors with their iconic backpacks engaged with attendees and collected empty drink cans throughout the weekend, reminding everyone of the importance of keeping this valuable material in the loop.
Festival-goers interacted with fun recycling-themed activities, including the can cages, voting bins, recycling-themed temporary tattoos and photos with Canzee, the ECC mascot.

On top of that, about 900 people completed the Every Can Counts survey during the event, helping us better understand public attitudes towards recycling and how we can continue to improve awareness in the future.

Victorious Festival was another stop in a busy summer for Every Can Counts UK, working across the country to promote drink can recycling and circularity. The activation showed once again how interactive activities can engage people, start conversations and keep the drink can recycling message front and centre.

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Together with Kompania Piwowarska and the beer brand TYSKIE, our local chapter encouraged festivalgoers to give their empty cans a second life. Every Can Counts ambassadors wearing their iconic backpacks helped visitors recycle their cans on the go, while sharing the benefits of aluminium recycling.

Attendees could also return their cans through reverse vending machines and redeem their deposit directly into their bank account. Festivalgoers could also take part in interactive activities focused on aluminium recycling, including the #PixelCan installation, a giant tic-tac-toe game and an obstacle course following the journey of an aluminium can through the recycling process. Once recycled, an aluminium drink can, can be back on shelves as a brand new can in as little as 60 days.

The impact was significant: around 100,000 aluminium cans were collected for recycling during the festival. The partnership between Każda Puszka Cenna and TYSKIE at Pol’and’Rock Festival not only contributed to keeping this valuable material in the loop, but also demonstrated that engaging, interactive and rewarding recycling can help build long-lasting circular habits.

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Throughout the event, ECC ambassadors with their green backpacks helped attendees recycle their empty drink cans. At the same time, they highlighted the properties of aluminium, reminding everyone that cans are infinitely recyclable, no matter their colour, size or shape.

Alongside the recycling backpacks and educational activities, ECC also brought reverse vending machines to OFF Festival this year, giving festivalgoers another way to recycle their empty cans. This setup attracted significant interest, allowing attendees to get a closer look at how a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) works in practice. It also demonstrated how deposit return infrastructure can effectively support recycling at large-scale cultural events.

Initiatives like this prove that behavioural change can happen when recycling is simple, engaging and directly connected to its meaningful environmental impact. And the impact is clear: recycling aluminium saves up to 95% of the energy needed to produce it from raw materials. And the same aluminium can be recycled again and again without losing its quality, showing circularity in practice.

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The ECC recycling ambassadors were joined by Canzee, the electric soapbox cars, the LATITUDE can cages and the iconic voting bins. 

Throughout the weekend, our UK chapter encouraged attendees to recycle on the go and engaged people in conversations about the importance of recycling their drink cans – highlighting that recycling aluminium saves up to 95% of the energy needed to produce it from raw materials.

The festival proved to be another opportunity for strong engagement, with nearly 1300 people completing the Every Can Counts recycling questionnaire and thousands of cans being collected and recycled in the ECC can cages and backpacks.

This activation demonstrates once again that when recycling is accessible, interactive and fun, people actively take part. By combining infrastructure with community engagement, Every Can Counts helps people turn simple actions into lasting habits.

As part of Imagine Lemnos Plastic Free, Every Can Counts Greece (Κάθε Κουτί Μετράει) and Solagro Smart Recycling brought an interactive recycling experience to the Agia Marina Panigyri in Androni, inviting residents and visitors to recycle during one of the island’s traditional summer celebrations.

Traditional summer festivals, or panigyria, are an integral part of Greek culture, bringing communities together through music, food and celebration. By bringing recycling into this setting, the activation showed how tradition and more sustainable habits can go hand in hand.

Recycle. Win. Support.

Under the message “Recycle. Win. Support.”, the activation brought together the Imagine Lemnos Plastic Free initiative, led by Lemnos Marine Conservation, Every Can Counts Greece, Solagro Smart Recycling, the Municipality of Lemnos and the Androni Cultural Association.

Visitors recycled aluminium drink cans using Solagro’s Digital Smart Flex system and the signature Every Can Counts recycling backpacks, making recycling easier, more interactive and more rewarding.

The award-winning digital recycling system, which received the Innovation of the Year award at the ESG Adria Summit 2025 in Montenegro, provided real-time information on the quantities and types of packaging collected, offering full transparency on the results of the collection. The system is designed to provide a convenient, easy-to-use and traceable recycling solution, particularly for packaging consumed on the go.

Participants recycled their packaging and entered a raffle for prizes offered by local businesses, as well as reusable metal bottles, encouraging more sustainable everyday habits.

The activation was also a great opportunity to highlight why every can counts. Aluminium can be recycled again and again without losing its properties. A drink can recycled today can be back on the shop shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days, while recycling aluminium saves up to 95% of the energy required to produce it from raw materials.

Beyond recycling, those who participated also contributed to environmental education on the island. Every Can Counts Greece will make a donation to Livadochori High School, supporting the environmental work being carried out in collaboration with Lemnos Marine Conservation. Through this contribution, more young people will have the opportunity to actively engage in protecting the natural environment of Lemnos.

Imagine Lemnos Plastic Free: bringing the community into the conversation

The Agia Marina Panigyri activation formed part of the wider Imagine Lemnos Plastic Free initiative led by Lemnos Marine Conservation, bringing together scientists, students, local authorities, businesses and citizens around a shared ambition: reducing single-use plastics and protecting the island’s marine environment.

In the days leading up to the Panigyri, the programme combined expert talks, student films, refill and reuse initiatives, environmental education and community discussions, including a roundtable that brought together experts, businesses and local stakeholders to exchange ideas and explore practical solutions for a more sustainable future for Lemnos.

Every Can Counts Greece took part in this wider conversation, bringing its perspective on recycling, circularity and the role awareness campaigns can play in encouraging behaviour change and keeping valuable materials like aluminium in circulation. The team also headed to Keros Surf Club, one of Greece’s best-known water sports destinations, where the ECC recycling ambassadors got visitors involved in drink can recycling.

From open dialogue and environmental education to hands-on recycling at one of Lemnos’ traditional summer celebrations, Imagine Lemnos Plastic Free showed the power of collaboration and active community participation in protecting the island’s natural environment.

The response from residents and visitors also showed that environmental awareness can become part of the places where people already meet, celebrate and connect.

Eleonora Georga, Mayor of Lemnos, said: “Traditional village festivals are an integral part of Lemnos’ identity and cultural heritage. It is especially important to combine these celebrations with initiatives that strengthen environmental awareness and help keep our island clean and beautiful for both residents and visitors. As the Municipality of Lemnos, we will continue supporting initiatives that encourage citizen participation and contribute to a more sustainable future for our island.”

Jelena Petljanski, Treasurer of Every Can Counts and Sustainability and Public Affairs Manager for Central and Eastern Europe at Ball Corporation, said: “What makes this initiative particularly interesting is that it brings recycling into a very authentic part of everyday life on Lemnos. A traditional panigyri may not be the first place people associate with innovation, but that is exactly where solutions like Smart Flex can make a difference: making recycling easy, accessible and rewarding while providing transparency on what is collected. Together with Every Can Counts and Solagro, we wanted to show that new technology and local tradition can work side by side — and help keep valuable materials such as aluminium in circulation.”

Eirini Topouzidou, Programme Manager, Every Can Counts Greece, said: “The strong participation from residents and visitors showed that people respond when recycling is accessible and connected to a positive experience. And we saw here on Lemnos that it can work with three key ingredients: innovation, awareness and a simple incentive. The smart digital system also offered a first glimpse of how the Deposit Return System (DRS) could become part of outdoor events in Greece in the coming years. The real opportunity is to turn moments like this into recycling habits that last beyond the event.”

The Every Can Counts ambassadors with their iconic backpacks were on the ground, helping visitors recycle their empty drink cans. They engaged with festivalgoers in conversations about the benefits of recycling, reminding them that aluminium recycling saves up to 95% of the energy needed to produce it from raw materials. 

With the Deposit Return System (DRS) recently launched in Poland, reverse vending machines were set up across the festival site. Attendees had the chance to experience first-hand how the system works by returning their empty drink cans. This activation attracted strong interest from visitors, making the returning process simple and efficient. ECC ambassadors were there to help, guiding participants through the steps and explaining what happens to the cans after they are returned.

Festivals are another place where every can should count. If we want every can recycled, it needs to be just as easy to recycle at a festival as it is at home, with the right infrastructure in place and people there to help.

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By bringing recycling infrastructure directly to where aluminium drink cans are consumed, this activation helps holidaymakers and residents build lasting recycling habits while keeping this valuable material in the loop. Recycling aluminium saves 95% more energy than producing it from raw materials.

In Salerno, the project has involved around 30 beach resorts in collaboration with local waste management operator Salerno Pulita. Dedicated collection bins and information materials have been distributed across participating venues to make recycling easy for beachgoers. This infrastructure is supported by a communication campaign on local TV, radio, press and social media platforms, ensuring the recycling message reaches the wider community through the summer season.

The campaign video, currently broadcasting across local media channels.

This initiative complements existing Ogni Lattina Vale activations in Calabria, especially across beaches within the Regional Marine Parks, under the patronage of the Calabria Region, involving numerous beach resorts and local communities along the coast.

In the Regional Marine Parks, the campaign has also been integrated with a seven-stage itinerant programme, organised thanks to MAVISTO (MareVisione Sostenibilità), a platform that promotes a culture of sustainability and marine conservation, whilst offering opportunities for inclusion and training to young people in vulnerable situations.

This project in Salerno and Calabria has reinforced the local Every Can Counts programme’s presence in southern Italy, turning beaches into venues for raising environmental awareness and fostering active participation in aluminium can recycling.

While Italy is one of Europe’s top performers in aluminium can recycling, collecting cans away from home remains one of the biggest opportunities to keep even more valuable material in the loop. By bringing recycling directly to the beach, Ogni Lattina Vale makes it easier for people to recycle wherever they are.

“Bringing the ‘Ogni Lattina Vale’ initiative to the beaches of Salerno and Calabria means strengthening the bond between the local area, its residents and good environmental practices, encouraging separate waste collection even during leisure time,” says Stefano Stellini, Director General of CIAL. “The high recycling rates achieved by our country demonstrate just how well the system works, but to achieve further growth, it is essential to focus our efforts precisely on settings outside the home. Thanks to our collaboration with local authorities and operators in the area, we can make recycling increasingly simple, straightforward and accessible, transforming every can collected into a tangible resource for the environment.”

By transforming moments of leisure into opportunities for active responsibility, Ogni Lattina Vale proves that making recycling easy, accessible and part of everyday life is the key to building lasting habits.

Graspop Metal Meeting is not only one of Europe’s biggest hard rock and metal festivals, but also an event committed to eco-friendly practices and sustainability. Festival Director Peter Van Geel describes the partnership with Every Can Counts as a logical step towards a more eco-friendly event, where suppliers, partners, and volunteers all contribute together.

True recycling impact comes from real engagement rather than just providing the recycling infrastructure. Armed with the programme’s iconic recycling backpacks, Every Can Counts ambassadors interacted with festivalgoers on-site, collecting empty drink cans, sharing key facts about aluminium circularity and distributing PMD (plastic packaging, metal packaging and drink cartons) recycling bags.

To inspire long-term sustainable habits, the activation focused on rewarding positive behaviour. Festival goers could exchange their full PMD bags for “Green Coins” provided by the organisers. These coins unlocked rewards such as exclusive #GMM26 gadgets or free rides on festival attractions, proving that recycling is effective when it is interactive and fun.

As David Van Heuverswyn, Global Director of Every Can Counts, explains:”Every beverage can that ends up in the wrong bin represents a loss of valuable raw materials.”

With aluminium being infinitely recyclable and recycling it saving 95% of the energy required to produce new metal from raw materials, every can recycled helps keep valuable material in the loop.

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