Rexam, a leading global beverage can maker, has announced the results of its annual pan European Community Can Challenge. Now in its fourth year, the challenge highlights Rexam's ongoing commitment to recycling and its dedication to recruiting support from local communities, all of which makes for a more sustainable business.

The scheme saw plant workers, from a number of European sites, join forces with local communities to recycle cans and raise money for charity, whilst raising public awareness of the importance of metal recycling.

Following a great response from all involved, the result of this year's challenge was the recycling of 3.32 tonnes of metal, equating to over 200,000 cans or 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide savings.

Rexam's Ludesh plant in Austria won the weight prize for the greatest weight of cans collected - reaching 800kg. Whilst the Ejpovice plant in Czech Republic, won the award for the weight collected, divided by average can consumption per head of population. The plants will receive a prize of €4,500 each for their chosen charities.

Rexam's La Selva plant, Spain, received the Community Engagement Award following a number of successful community campaigns, which engaged a variety of different community groups in a number of surrounding villages. The prize of €9,000 will similarly be donated to a charity of their choice.

Speaking about the Community Can Challenge, Iain Percival, European Sector Director for Rexam says;

"The results from this year’s Rexam Community Can Challenge are a great achievement. They are a tangible example of how our people are passionate about the beverage can we make and dedicated to collaborating with our local communities to promote and support the sustainable values that we uphold."

Special Commendations:

The following plants have been commended for their work this year:

Rexam Italian team – for their project promoting can recycling in partnership with "Greensharing" (a not for profit association that promotes sustainability) and CiAl (the National Consortium for the recovery of aluminium packaging).

Rexam Valdemorillo plant, Spain - for the extent of their community engagement program and the media coverage gained.

Rexam Mont plant, France – for coming a close second in the total weight category, collecting 730kg of cans.

Rexam Argayash plant, Russia – for collecting over 450kg of cans, which given the lower can consumption per head in Russia, is an excellent achievement.