PALMA
ABALEARIC businesses foundation announced its intention yesterday to collect 515'000 cans as part of its sixteenth recycling campaign entitled Don't Throw It Away.
For every 25 cans collected, the foundation will donate one euro to an established regional charity, Caritas, to fund workshops for people who have come out of prison or are living on the edges of society in some way, in order that their lives may resume some level of normality.
This session of the project will run until March next year. During this period, it is planned that as much as 515'000 cans will be collected and recycled with the result that the foundation will be able to write a cheque out for Caritas to the tune of 20'600 euros. These figures anticipate an increase of 15'000 cans and a profit of 600 euros on top of that which was accumulated during a similar campaign launched at this time last year. The task of collecting the cans from colleges, individual homes, companies, restaurants and industrial sites will be given to the Deixalles second hand shops charity - the resulting profits will be used for developing the workshops for the underprivileged, paying back rent and utility bills.
Although the project is technically an ongoing one, focusing on a specific period of the year for collection - starting during the run up to Christmas - raises public awareness about the benefits of recycling which, in this instance, can also assist those who are unlikely to find honourable work of their own accord and who have difficulty fitting into mainstream society. President of the Balearic business foundation, Tomás Garrido explained yesterday that the campaign is a double-edged sword in terms of its environmental benefits. The project, hailed yesterday by regional Environment minister Catalina Julve, is a pioneering one in Europe.