ANNUAL REPORT - Can Central

14
Beverage Can Public Relations Committee/
The Great American Can RoundUp (GACR)
CMI’s recycling program continues to focus on the
value of consumer education and the environmental,
social and economic benefits associated with can
recycling. In November 2010, CMI launched the
Recycling School Challenge under the Great American
Can RoundUp (GACR) banner at the National Middle
School Association Annual Conference.
More than five hundred teachers registered for the
Recycling School Challenge that began on America
Recycles Day on November 15, 2010 and ends
on Earth Day, April 22, 2011. The top per capita
recycling school in each state and the District of
Columbia will win $500; the champion recycling
school will receive an additional $5,000. Monthly
posts and recycled UBC amounts continue to grow.
Since 2006, over 110,000 can recycling curricula
have been mailed or downloaded from
www.cancentral.com. Work is underway to update
CMI’s flagship ABCs of Environmental Education
curriculum for upper elementary and middle school
students. A coloring storybook about Al the Can
and an interactive PowerPoint activity for class
presentations or field trips will be available soon.
CMI helped honor the 100th anniversary of the
Boy Scouts with a booth at the National Boy Scout
Jamboree in summer 2010. CMI welcomed some
60,000 daily attendees and 43,000 resident Jambo
scouts and leaders over ten days and generated
interest in the return of the GACR Scout Council
Challenge, one of the few programs where Boy and
Girl Scouts compete against each other. Rollout of
the Scout Council Challenge is planned for January of
2012 and will be promoted to the Girl Scouts at their
National Convention in November 2011.
CMI hosted its eighth consecutive intra-industry
America Recycles Day (ARD) Challenge in 2010,
continuing to raise recycling awareness and reinforce
the industry’s commitment to sustainability and
the environment. During the competition, plant
employees delivered can recycling messages to their
communities and engaged schools and communities
in recycling. Aluminum can suppliers and
manufacturers recycled over 140 million beverage
cans and raised money for Habitat for Humanity, the
American Red Cross, Toys for Tots, Boys and Girls
Clubs, local parks, schools and recycling programs.
The ARD School Challenge drew 17,000 students
who recycled an average 309 cans per student. In
76 days, participating schools raised over $20,000.
Most schools pledged to recycle through Earth Day
under the GACR School Challenge. Their success
stories and ideas throughout the year will be posted
on Al the Can’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
The 2011 America Recycles Day Challenge will
kickoff on June 15, 2011 and run through American
Recycles Day on November 15, 2011. CMI
encourages all can suppliers and manufacturers to
participate. Additionally, CMI has partnered with Food
For All, a non-profit that will facilitate the distribution
of recycling proceeds to soup kitchens and food
banks. This partnership will allow facilities to turn
their cans into cash to feed the hungry.