A community-run aluminium recycling service in York has reported a surge in people recycling during the pandemic.

Foil For Snappy was set up in 2012 by Karen Nash to help raise funds for The Snappy Trust, a local charity supporting children and young people with disabilities. Karen's son attends Snappy.

Since launching, the recycling project - which collects drink cans, foil and household cables - has recycled 16.8 tonnes of metal, raising over £9,400 for The Snappy Trust. Once a family project, the award-winning scheme has gained city-wide momentum and now runs nearly 100 collection points across York, including supermarket car parks and community buildings.

With many local businesses closed as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, the group has been unable to use more than half of its collection points. Despite this, it recycled over five tonnes of metal in 2020, up 30 per cent on 2019 - suggesting that people have been recycling more than ever before during the pandemic.

Once collected and compressed, Foil For Snappy sells the aluminium to a local recycling centre. This has provided much-needed financial support for the charity during the pandemic, which has seen a cut in its funds due to the cancellation of its regular fundraising events.

Karen said: “Last year was an extraordinary year and I am very pleased that, despite the challenges, we’ve been able to raise much-needed funds for The Snappy Trust, which supports over 300 children including my own son.

“This wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing team of volunteers that have been going above and beyond to keep the project going, as well as people across York who have continued to support us by dropping off their recycling.

“Looking back to when I first started Foil For Snappy, I never thought it would turn into something this big. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved, and I hope we can continue to inspire people in York to recycle as much as they can.”

Foil For Snappy has worked with a number of suppliers and recycling partners, including not-for-profit programme Every Can Counts, which has provided indoor collection bins for drink cans. Last year alone more than 110,000 drink cans were dropped-off for recycling.

Every Can Counts is a partnership between drink can manufacturers and the wider recycling industry, all with the goal of reaching a 100 per cent recycling rate for drinks cans.

In 2019, Karen’s hard work and dedication to the initiative was recognised by Every Can Counts as she was awarded the Every Can Counts Green Can Award.

Find out more about Every Can Counts here