Environmental protection is an intergenerational project that is about each and every individual being able to contribute to a more sustainable planet. One way is to properly separate waste in order to bring back recyclables into their cycle. Especially with drinks cans, this is crucial because recycling aluminum requires 95% less energy than producing new material. In addition, beverage cans can be recycled infinitely and turn into new cans or a wide range of other products. To show the broad possibilities and use cases our team Jede Dose zählt organized an upcycling challenge at the technical school HTL Bregenz in Austria.
“It was not easy, but I learned a lot”
All students were invited to create something new (and maybe useful) from empty beverage cans collected in their school – with no limits to creativity. In the end, a jury awarded prizes to the most extraordinary ideas. First place went to Marc and Ali for their “Cancrusher 2000”. Their main goal was to not only create something new out of cans but to produce something that helps in the recycling process of cans. Second prize was won by Alexa, who built a ship out of almost 30 cans. Third and fourth place went to Niklas, Maximilian and Patrick for a can smoker and a mini grill. All students agreed that the challenge was not easy, but they gained a lot of knowledge about aluminium and its characteristics. Anyhow it was worth the work. The lucky winners have been awarded attractive prizes – from aluminium bicycles to skiing passes.
Ali Eren Köse and Marc Hauer / (c) HTL Bregenz 
Ali Eren Köse, Mar Hauer und Direktorin Claudia Vögel / (c) HTL Bregenz
Every Can Counts at HTL Bregenz
Already last year, HTL Bregenz – a school in the western part of Austria – started the cooperation with our team Jede Dose zählt. After a survey among their students, they saw a large interest in recycling projects and contacted the recycling initiative. Branded bins and posters inform students about drink can recycling and offer them the possibility to collect this precious raw material in separate bins in order to keep the cycle of recycling going.