City of Cincinnati Wins American Recycler Video Award

Winner of annual competition announced on America Recycles Day

-- Packaging Digest, 11/16/2009 10:37:50 AM

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, Novelis Inc. and Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) announced that Cincinnati, Ohio is the winner of the first Cans for Cash: American Recycler Video Award. The city of Cincinnati will receive a grand prize of $5,000 to enhance local recycling efforts.

The American Recycler Video Award is a fun, new component of the national Cans for Cash City Recycling Challenge, an annual competition that rewards U.S. cities for recycling aluminum beverage cans.

The 2009 contest encouraged cities to create a short, web-based film promoting aluminum can recycling. Local flavor and creativity were encouraged, and entries were instructed to incorporate the 2009 campaign theme: "Recycling starts with I CAN." Entrants were asked to weave messages into their films highlighting the environmental benefits of recycling. Finalists were selected by the sponsors, and general public voting was conducted on the website: cans4cash.com. The winning video will be featured in the 2010 Cans for Cash National Recycling Campaign.

The winning video featured Cincinnatians of all ages and walks of life recycling and showing their solidarity by holding placards reading "I Can."

"The United States Conference of Mayors, along with our partners, Novelis, Inc. and Keep America Beautiful, applaud the finalists of the inaugural American Recycler Video Contest," said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of The United States Conference of Mayors. "These videos showcased the diversity of communities and their unique approaches to recycling and again proved that cities are leading the charge towards a greener tomorrow. Congratulations to the City of Cincinnati on their impressive win and all the cities on their commitment to recycling programs."

Now in its sixth year, the Cans for Cash program challenged cities to compete against each other in aluminum cans recycled throughout the month of October. Awards honor cities with the highest per capita aluminum can recycling rates, as well as the most innovative local recycling programs. The winners of the 2009 challenge will be announced in January 2010 at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 78th Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Video finalists and the winning film are viewable online at www.cans4cash.com, along with a complete list of cities that have registered for the 2009 Cans for Cash program.

SOURCE: Novelis, Inc.; The U.S. Conference of Mayors; Keep America Beautiful, Inc.