Can Manufacturers Institute, Recycling is like Magic release aluminum can recycling contest results

The Washington-based Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and Recycling is like Magic (RilMa), a division of Bellingham, Washington-based Scrap University aimed at teaching children about metal recycling, have announced that more than 1.6 million empty aluminum beverage cans were collected during the 2 Million Cans Recycling Contest.

The student-led competition, which ran from Oct. 1, 2024, to April 30, 2025, challenged second and third graders to recycle used aluminum beverage cans and compete in a nationwide contest.

“Congratulations to all the students who surpassed last year’s total to collect more than 1.6 million cans,” says Scott Breen, senior vice president of sustainability at CMI. “Impressively, in two years, our students have recycled about 3 million cans.”

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Collectively, thousands of students from 18 schools across 12 states participated: Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.

These schools were supported by 11 companies, referred to as “Can Champions,” from CMI’s membership: Ardagh Metal Packaging, CANPACK, Constellium, Crown Holdings Inc., Envases, Kaiser Aluminum, Logan Aluminum, Novelis, PPG, Sherwin-Williams and Tri-Arrows Aluminum.

“This achievement was made possible through the efforts of students and teachers, as well as the support of each CMI aluminum beverage can sector member and local scrap yards who partnered up with participating schools,” Breen says. “This contest is proof that there is a meaningful and effective way to engage young learners in hands-on recycling practices while delivering valuable funding to support their schools. Aluminum beverage cans are uniquely positioned to support this model given their high monetary value and the hundreds of metal recyclers across the country that readily buy these used cans.”

Schools that competed earned funding from selling used beverage cans (UBCs) to local scrap yards. CMI says recycling more than 1.6 million cans produced more than $26,000 in scrap value, representing greenhouse gas (GHG) energy savings equal to the amount needed to power more than 20 million smartphones.

Additionally, CMI members provided funding that schools received if they met certain challenges or targets during the competition. The top three schools received grand prizes for collecting the most cans per student participating:

• 1st Place: Fairplain Elementary School in Ripley, West Virgina, will receive a $3,000 prize;
• 2nd Place: Mendon Elementary School in Ruffs Dale, Pennsylvania, will receive a $2,000 prize; and
• 3rd Place: Lewisburg Elementary School in Lewisburg, Kentucky, will receive a $1,000 prize.

The contest also recognized several schools with a pizza party for recycling 75,000 cans and awarded an additional $500 to two schools for each recycling more than 150,000 cans. Beyond the prize funds, CMI paid for every student to receive a copy of RilMA’s children’s book, “The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans.”

“This contest was originally inspired by our children’s book,” says Jessica Alexanderson, executive director at the Recycling Society and author at RilMa. “The story became a reality thanks to the spirit of students across America who collected empty aluminum beverage cans throughout the school year.

“The book taught a valuable lesson—recycling comes with significant economic and environmental benefits. These recycling superheroes worked hard and showed us that if we make recycling fun and easy for them, they will fill huge bins with cans. We are blown away by their recycling skills.”