Every Can Counts Promotes Can Recycling on Spanish Beaches with its Summer Campaign

With the start of summer, Every Can Counts is launching its “Your Can to Yellow” campaign for the eighth consecutive year, an initiative that will tour the urban beaches of Santander, A Coruña, Cádiz, Málaga, and Tenerife during July and August. The goal: to encourage beverage can recycling among beachgoers and promote more sustainable leisure activities in these natural spaces.

Teams of environmental educators, equipped with collection backpacks, will visit coastal areas to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of depositing cans in the yellow container. Despite the fact that, according to organization data, 86% of those surveyed say they know that this is the correct container, only 45% say they always recycle while at the beach.

Pablo García, director of Every Can Counts in Spain and PhD in Ecology, points out that “a can can be transformed into a new container without losing quality, which significantly reduces the use of natural resources and polluting emissions. But to achieve this, that small, great gesture from citizens is essential: use the yellow container”.

In addition, as part of the campaign, a new study entitled “Recycling Habits on Urban Beaches” will be carried out, with surveys on the beach to better understand the environmental behavior of users and help municipalities optimize waste management. One of the challenges highlighted by the organization is the lack of a uniform selective collection system in these environments, which hinders access to adequate recycling points.

Preliminary data from 2024 confirms that single-use containers—especially cans and PET bottles—are still very common on beaches. This underscores the need to strengthen infrastructure and awareness campaigns.

A decade of action in Spain

Every Can Counts is part of the international foundation Every Can Counts, founded in the United Kingdom in 2009 and already active in 21 countries. In Spain, the initiative celebrates ten years in 2025, establishing itself as a benchmark in environmental education campaigns. Among its most recognized actions are “Pixelata”, “Metal Never Dies”, “Your Can to Yellow” and “Being Yellow, Being Immortal”.