Durrell uses money raised through recycling aluminium cans to help plant tree corridors to reconnect fragments of degraded Brazillian rainforest. This forest is home to some of the most unique wildlife in the world, including the highly endangered black lion tamarin.
For every 50 cans collected and recycled, Durrell plants a tree in Brazil.
How to get involved
Cans for Corridors offers a simple but incredibly effective way in which to have a direct impact on one of the most endangered ecosystems and species on the planet.
This scheme not only benefits the wildlife in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil, but it also enhances biodiversity and empowers the local communities by educating them on sustainable agroforestry practices for their land.
Donate your cans
You can help us by collecting and dropping your aluminium cans to the can recycling point in Jersey Zoo's car park.
Please ensure that all your cans are made from aluminium only, these are most drinks cans. Some food cans are made from steel (a magnet will stick to them) and we are unable to accept steel.
The donation area for cans is in the Jersey Zoo carpark. Here you can drop off your cans at a time that suits you.
Don’t forget to spread the word to family and friends too!
Volunteer
We are always looking for volunteers to help sort and process the cans here at the zoo. We often attend large events too like festivals in the summer and would love your help collecting used aluminium cans.
If you think you can support this scheme, our team would love to hear from you. For more information please contact nadja.lane@durrell.org
Why you should support Cans for Corridors
Help the environment
Aluminium cans are 100% recyclable. By recycling your cans through Cans for Corridors, you are keeping this precious material in circulation, reducing the need to extract this raw material. Forest clearance has resulted in fewer trees to absorb harmful gases. This scheme helps restore habitats and protect biodiversity. Recycling 50 cans will enable us to plant one tree in Brazil.
Help animals
As forest cover has been torn down at alarming rates, the many species who depend on it to survive are threatened. Durrell's reforestation efforts help provide essential tree corridors, linking forest fragments and restoring habitats, enabling threatened species to thrive once more.
Help people
By teaching sustainable practices for working the land, Durrell empowers local communities with the tools and knowledge to build better environments and brighter futures.
Since we launched Cans for Corridors in 2002, the project has enabled the planting of over 125,000 trees. In the last five years alone (2018-2022), funds raised through Cans for Corridors has supported the cultivation of more than 20,000 seedlings, with the with 2022 funds accounting for 7,300 trees
How Cans for Corridors works
1. Collect and donate your 100% aluminium cans to Durrell
Durrell welcomes all Islanders, businesses and organisations to take part in Cans for Corridors by collecting used aluminium cans and delivering them to Jersey Zoo.
The can collection point is located in the Jersey Zoo carpark.
2. Cans are sorted and processed by our Can Recycling Team
Volunteers use our can sorting machine to separate out 100% aluminium cans into ton bags.
Our dedicated team of volunteers meet every 3 weeks to sort and process your donated cans. They believe in the difference the simple act of recycling your cans through Cans for Corridors can make for the planet, and we hope you do too.
3. Scrap collected and cans converted into cash value
Our local partners, Hunt Bros, collect these sorted cans from Durrell and we receive the value of the 100% aluminium cans. Value depends on weight and current value of the scrap metal.
We are very grateful to Hunt Bros, who kindly donated our can processing machine, to help our Can Recycling Team with sorting your donated cans and to help us achieve the best rate for 100% aluminium.
4. Durrell sends funds direct to our partners in Brazil
Our partner in Brazil, IPÊ, are experts in Brazilian biodiversity conservation • IPÊ manage the tree nurseries, plant the tree corridors and run an environmental education programme to engage local communities.
5. Funds are used to buy saplings from local community tree nurseries
We are supporting IPÊ to employ local people to work in sapling production, providing long-term employment.
Funds are used to provide livelihoods to local people who grow and plant trees to create tree corridors.
6. Once ready, saplings are planted by local people to grow tree corridors
Within 1-year, trees are 10ft tall and birds and mammals move through the forest.
3-4 years - trees can survive on their own.
5-7 years - a full forest.
Environmental benefits of aluminium
- Aluminium is 100% recyclable
- Recycling scrap aluminium uses 95% less energy than producing new aluminium from the raw ore
- Aluminium cans are infinitely recyclable and retain all material qualities no matter how many times they’re recycled.
- This is why it’s called a permanent material.
- Recycling cans saves natural resources as well as energy and carbon emissions.
- Commonly missed aluminium items in the hous: aluminium foil containers/food dishes etc foil wrappers, lid tops, coffee pods
- Do the magnet test to check if it’s aluminium - aluminium is not magnetic
The Can Recycling Team
We have a dedicated team of wonderful volunteers, our Can Recycling Team, who meet every three weeks to sort and process your donated cans.
The team believe in the difference the simple act of recycling your cans and supporting the Cans for Corridors project can make for the planet, and we hope you do too.