Washington State University and the city of Pullman are partnering to compete against 10 cities nationwide in an effort to win $10,000 through the collection of aluminum cans for recycling.
The prize is being offered through the Cans for Cash City Recycling Challenge, a national recycling program being offered by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in a partnership with Alcan Corp.
The recycling challenge is part of an effort to draw attention to the fact that the national aluminum recycling rate is currently at 50 percent, which means that about $1 billion in recyclable aluminum cans end up in landfills each year.
The aluminum can recycling partnership between WSU and Pullman was announced this week in a proclamation by Pullman Mayor Glenn A. Johnson designating Nov. 2 through Nov. 15 as “Cans For Cash Days.” The goal of the effort is to decrease the amount of aluminum sent to the city’s transfer station, recycle more aluminum cans than other cities in Pullman’s division of the competition and educate local citizens on the benefits of aluminum can recycling.
