Immediate Release                18 November 2009

Collect-a-Can has broken its previous Guinness World Records™ figure for collecting the most steel cans in one month!
 
Collect-a-Can are proud to announce that they have beaten the record they set in the 2007 Guinness World Records for collecting the most steel cans in one month! The total cans for all collections in the month of October 2009 amounted to 2,122,238 that were collected by school children. This impressive result overreaches the previous schools record of 1,971,026 cans by 7.6%.

The record was first set in October 2007 when Collect-a-Can managed to collect a staggering 1,971,026 cans from schools in a single month, accounting for almost 10% of the total can production in Southern Africa, for 2006.  The company attempted to beat the record again in 2008 but fell short by just a few cans. This year however, despite the economic downturn which has resulted in fewer canned drinks being consumed and thus fewer cans being available for collection, there has been a terrific response from collectors who have really put in a lot of effort in submitting their cans to help break the record.

“None of this would have been possible were it not for the collectors who recover the cans for us,” said Annie Tsima, Managing Director of Collect-a-Can. “We are particularly proud of the school children whose efforts have helped boost our collection numbers significantly. There is an old saying that goes, ‘you need to bend a stick while it is still young’ meaning that you can best reach people in their youth, and instil healthy waste management habits. It is for this reason that one of Collect-a-Can’s main focuses has always been to get the youth involved and excited about our collection efforts and initiatives, and the Guinness World Records attempt is a wonderful concept for them to be part of,” Tsima continued.

Publishing group Pan MacMillan have generously sponsored book prizes for the three schools that collected the most cans for Collect-a-Can per region during the Guinness World Records attempt in Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape. Pan Macmillan is known for its high-quality academic, scholarly, educational, fiction, non-fiction and reference publishing and will be sponsoring 45 to 50 books per school to the libraries of these top collecting schools.

MySchool, South Africa's biggest community support and fundraising programme has been the initiative’s media partner, ensuring that schools and supporters across the country stay informed and motivated to make a change for the good of our environment.

Up until now Collect-a-Can have only been able to offer prizes to schools participating in their Guinness World Records attempt; it is hoped however, that additional sponsors will come forward in subsequent years to offer prizes to members of the public and other institutions who participate as well.

With the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors into the country next year, Collect-a-Can look forward to a bumper year of can collections and the opportunity to set an even bigger and better record for 2010!

For more information visit Collect-a-Can’s website www.collectacan.co.za or contact Collect-a-Can’s head office on (011) 466 2939.

Issued by Reputation Matters:
Lindi Berrino
Tel: (011) 317 3861
Fax: (011) 317 3601
lindi@reputationmatters.co.za