By Jubi Headley
January 31, 2011

The winners of the seventh annual Cans for Cash City Recycling Challenge were announced January 21 at The U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting in Washington (DC). Through the program, sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors, Novelis Inc. (the global leader in aluminum rolled products and aluminum can recycling), and Keep America Beautiful (KAB), cities competed in a month-long challenge to see which city collected the most aluminum cans. During this year's competition, 36 cities collected more than three million pounds of aluminum cans that could otherwise have ended up in landfills.

"Right now, America recycles just over half of the aluminum cans we produce each year," said Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran. "Increasing our aluminum can recycling rate doesn't just generate revenue for cities; it also saves energy and natural resources, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Through campaigns like Cans for Cash, as well as everyday efforts, America's mayors are committed to providing the environmental stewardship it will take to have our country recycle 100 percent of the cans we produce every year."

Awards are handed out in three categories: Most Cans Collected, Most Innovative Campaign, and Most Innovative Campaign in partnership with a local KAB affiliate. Winning cities in each category receive a $5,000 award.

The Most Cans Collected category is determined by the ratio of the city population to the total pounds of cans recycled. The cities recognized for Most Cans Collected are:

• First Place: Fontana (CA) — Mayor Acquanetta Warren

• Second Place: Milwaukee (WI) — Mayor Tom Barrett

• Third Place: Richmond (IN) — Mayor Sally L. Hutton

• Fourth Place: University City (MO) — Mayor Shelley Welsch

To spur innovation and creativity in local initiatives, four cities were awarded for originality in public education and awareness campaigns.

• First Place: Canfield Village (OH) — Mayor Bill Kay

• Second Place: Bowling Green (KY) — Mayor Elaine Walker

• Third Place: Hollywood (FL) — Mayor Peter J. M. Bober

• Fourth Place: Irvine (CA) — Mayor Sukhee Kang

The Cans for Cash challenge also recognized creative partnerships between cities and local affiliates of Keep America Beautiful, a national nonprofit organization focused on litter prevention, waste reduction and beautification. In addition to the $5,000 award for each of the winning cities in this category, the associated KAB affiliate received $2,500.

• First Place: Sidney (NE) — Mayor Wendall Gaston — "Keep Sidney Beautiful"

• Second Place: Mobile (AL) — Mayor Samuel L. Jones — "Keep Mobile Beautiful, Inc."

• Third Place: Brownwood (TX) — Mayor Stephen E. Haynes — "Keep Brownwood Beautiful"

"This interactive campaign unites communities, heightens awareness of the importance of recycling, and offers citizens an avenue to recycle," said Jean-Marc Germain, Senior Vice President of Novelis and President, Novelis North America. "We hope to remind participants there is great value in recycling aluminum cans as each can that avoids the trash bin saves energy and natural resources. Recycling just one can saves enough energy to operate a television for two hours."

Since it began in 2004, The Cans for Cash: City Recycling Challenge has collected and recycled more than 793 million aluminum cans.

For more information on the Cans for Cash: City Recycling Challenge, contact Jubi Headley at 202-861-6798 or send e-mail to jheadley@usmayors.org.