Two Habitat for Humanity homes funded by Alcan program

Montreal, Canada— Sechelt, B.C. and Toronto, Ontario Habitat for Humanity Canada affiliates are the winners of the Alcan Builds on Recycling program. By recycling the largest number of used aluminum beverage cans (UBCs), the affiliates have each been awarded CDN$60,000 from Alcan to fund the construction of a new home in their communities.

The awards were presented at Habitat for Humanity Canada’s Annual General Meeting in Ottawa, May 5, at which Daniel Gagnier, Alcan’s senior vice president of corporate and external affairs, said, “We’re very pleased with the results in this first year of the Alcan Builds on Recycling program. Alcan has been a long-time supporter of Habitat for Humanity International.”

Alcan launched the initiative last May as part of its sustainability-based Community Investment portfolio. The Alcan Builds on Recycling program provides two levels of incentives for Habitat for Humanity affiliates to recycle UBCs. The first level provides dollar-for-dollar matching grants, to a maximum of CDN$2,500 a year, to the affiliates who earn the highest cash value through recycling UBCs. The second level awards a fully-funded house to the two most successful recyclers - one on the basis of total cans collected, the other on the basis of total cans collected per capita in the affiliate’s geographical region.