In a nation wide recycling competition held by the US can industry for the second year, schools in America recycled over 4.5 millionaluminum beverage cans which is almost double the number of cans recycled last year. Over 790 schools from 50 states took part in the competition which takes place every year starting from November 15 (America Recycles Day) to April 22 (Earth Day).

The Can Manufacturers Institute, a national trade association of the metal can manufacturing industry and its suppliers in the US has announced the winners of the contest. Expedition Academy, based in Green River, Wyoming, was chosen as the national champion by achieving a recycling rate of 70.49 lbs.
Mr Robert Budway president of CMI said that the 2012 program was a great success and the students recycled over 65 tonnes of cans. Their work helped to protect the environment and also raised money for local charities and schools in the country.
Some students worked on collection projects that recycled a total of 131,183 lbs of aluminum cans. The aluminum collected is worth over USD 65,500 which can be donated to local charities or schools. Additionally, CMI granted USD 1,000 to the top recycling school in every state that satisfied all the requirements of the contest.
Every year, American consumers earn over USD 1 billion from recycling cans. In the US, approximately 67% of steel food cans and 58% of aluminum beverage cans are recycled annually. Budway remarked that cans are a highly recycled packaging product in the US. Analysis revealed that glass is recycled about 31%, PET containers by 29% and aseptic cartons by 6.5%.