Buy cans for education fund

20 Jun 2011

This year, in addition to existing Nampak CSI beneficiaries, Nampak Bevcan will be adding an extra R5 million or more (making a combined total of R10 million), specifically towards education initiatives. The group allocates 1% of profit after tax to CSI projects each year, which include education, health and welfare as well as environmental initiatives.

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To reach the R10 million mark, Nampak and Bevcan are donating 3c for every beverage can sold between 18 April and 18 July 2011, that's 18c a six-pack and 72c a case. Consumers need only purchase a beverage in a can to support this initiative, wherein they will not only be supporting education initiatives across South Africa but will also be making the greener choice by choosing South Africa's most recycled beverage packaging; currently 70% of all cans in South Africa are collected for recycling.

The national initiatives for which the company is raising the funds include educational TV and radio shows broadcast by the SABC. These programs focus on preparing grades 10, 11 and 12 towards final exams, with a special focus on the areas of mathematics and science. The remainder of the money will be going towards a national literacy program, which is currently in its developmental stages.

Intensive promotion campaign

To promote the initiative, the company has embarked on its largest ever marketing drive to date - a nationwide campaign called 'Every-can-counts'. The message is being promoted across a wide range of media, including television stations SABC 1, 2 and 3 as well as ETV and MNET. Radio ads are also airing on Highveld 94.7, 94.5 KFM, 5FM, RSG, Umhlobo Wene, Ukhozi FM, 702, Jacaranda and East Coast Radio.

Billboards in and around Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban are currently communicating the message on the streets, with more advertisements driving home the message on in-store screens in over 700 retail outlets countrywide including Makro, Spar, Shell, Engen, Tops and selected taverns. In addition to these tactics, promoters have been intermittently demonstrating the benefits of cans at various Makro, Pick n Pay Liquor, Tops and other retail outlets countrywide.

The company's MD, Erik Smuts, explains that the company is encouraging South Africans to make a difference by choosing their favourite beverage in a can and that in addition to contributing to educating South Africans, consumers will also be contributing to job creation in terms of the thousands of informal collectors making a living from collecting cans for recycling. "We are contributing to education and transformation, doing what we can for the good of the youth of our country," says Smuts.

Consumers can see just how much the campaign has managed to raise on its homepage www.everycancounts.co.za, where there is a live counter reflecting funds raised to date.