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Recycling rainbow with thousands of cans brightens up Piccadilly Gardens for World Environment Day
An international campaign wants you to recycle your drink cans this weekend.
Anna Willis -
4th June 2021 
A giant rainbow made from over 2,500 drink cans has appeared in Piccadilly Gardens to promote recycling on World Environment Day this weekend.
Every Can Counts and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) are encouraging everyone to recycle their drink cans in the 750 recycling bins across the city.
Reps are also traversing the streets with giant can-shaped backpacks, collecting empty drinks as part of the campaign.
“Our key message is that metal recycles for ever,” Every Can Counts rep Jordan Croft told The Manc.
“Recycling is such an important cause and one we’re all really passionate about.”
The multicoloured rainbow is made up of thousands of cans – celebrating key workers, the NHS and Pride. It’s travelled all the way from Brighton as part of Every Can Count’s international campaign to promote recycling.
For the weekend, Manchester City Council has installed special gold recycling bins across the city, reminding everyone to recycle their cans instead of throwing them away.
There are also two competitions to enter. Take a photo next to the rainbow and tag Every Can Counts on social media to be in with a chance to win £250 shopping vouchers. The reps will also be doing a short survey on recycling habits and by answering some questions you’ll be entered into a £100 prize draw.
According to Every Can Counts’ research, people in Greater Manchester fail to recycle nearly 1.5 million drink cans every year. If those cans were recycled, it would be the equivalent of taking almost 4,000 cars off Manchester’s roads for a week (in greenhouse gas savings).
“It’s all about inspiring people to do the right thing by raising awareness of recycling,” Every Can Count’s Programme Leader Chris Latham-Warde said.
“In conjunction with World Environment Day on Saturday, we thought it would be a great opportunity to get the rainbow out there, bringing some colour to Piccadilly Gardens.
“Everyone loves a symbol of positivity and there’s the message too that we all need to do the right thing and recycle.”
For more information about Every Can Counts, visit their website.
Featured images: Anna Willis
