Novelis and community recycling project help create recyclers of the future

 

Encouraged by Mandy Turner, who is the school administrator, children at the school bring in their used aluminium drink cans from home and these are then collected by R.O.B. and taken away to be sorted at their facility on Boughton Industrial Estate near Newark. The used aluminium cans are next sent to Novelis’ dedicated aluminium can reprocessing plant in Warrington, Cheshire – the largest in Europe - where they feed the ‘closed loop’ aluminium can recycling system. Within 60 days they can be recycled by Novelis, remade, refilled and back on the supermarket shelf.

 

R.O.B. operates as a Novelis ‘Think Cans’ centre and pay cash for each kilo of aluminium cans the school children collect. Mandy has also persuaded some local businesses to give their used aluminium cans to the school and in the six months from January to July 2009 the children and staff at Hodthorpe Primary raised around £2,000 from the sale of aluminium cans and other fund raising events. Thanks to these efforts, the school has been able to purchase five new items of outdoor play equipment.

 

Recycling Ollerton & Boughton was set up in 1999 and provides work based opportunities for adults with learning difficulties, using the medium of recycling waste materials to provide invaluable opportunities for people who might otherwise be disadvantaged in the workplace.

 

R.O.B. collects glass, cardboard & paper, textiles and aluminium cans from around 6,000 households and from local businesses. They also collect bric-a-brac which is then sold at local Car Boot Sales and from their stall at Ollerton Indoor Market.

 

David Baxter, Operations Manager for R.O.B., said: “R.O.B. is a community based recyling scheme so it’s a real pleasure to be working with enthusiastic recyclers like Mandy and the children at Hodthorpe Primary. Aluminium is a valuable raw material that can be recycled endlessly and selling the aluminium cans to us provides the school with much-needed funds. Our aim at Recycling Ollerton & Boughton is to improve the skills, self esteem and confidence of a vulnerable group of adults and to introduce them to a supported working environment. Operating the Think Cans Centre and working with Novelis to support schemes like the one at Hodthorpe Primary allows us to do that”

 

Bob Meath, Business Development Manager at Novelis, commented: “We are delighted to be working with R.O.B. and to draw attention to the great work they are doing themselves and with groups like the children at Hodthorpe. Recycling aluminium cans makes sense whichever way you look at it, it saves up to 95% energy when you compare recycling aluminium drink cans with producing the metal from raw materials and it greatly reduces the amount of waste going to landfill. Around 5.5 billion drink cans are sold in the UK every year and the Novelis plant has the capacity to recycle every single one. This quantity equates to about 90,000 tonnes in weight and at an average ‘cash for cans’ payment of 45p a kilo that has a value of over £40 million. The opportunity is there for charities and community groups to get a share of this money – all they have to do is follow the example of these enthusiastic young recyclers”   

 

Novelis Recycling works with around 40 ‘Think Cans’ cash for cans centres across the UK. For details of your nearest site call the Alupro Information Line on: 0845 722 7722 or visit www.thinkcans.com. Recycling Ollerton & Boughton: 01623 863955