Teenager Ryan collects over a million cans for recycling, raises 20,000 pounds for charity
A 14-year-old boy from Solihull has collected over a million cans for recycling, raising 20,000 pounds for charity through his efforts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A 14-year-old boy from Solihull has collected more than a million drinks cans for recycling, raising over 20,000 pounds for charity in the process. Ryan, who started the project when he was 10 years old, has been crushing and recycling cans on an industrial scale for the last four and a half years.
Initially, Ryan and his family crushed the cans by foot. 'We originally started crushing them with our feet and it took a little while, but every single can counted and it was really important and I just didn't want to give up on it,' he said. Two years ago, he applied for community funding from Birmingham Airport, which allowed him to buy an industrial crushing machine and expand his operation.
The money Ryan makes from selling the scrap metal is donated entirely to charities in the West Midlands. He was inspired to help after seeing his school support people during the Covid pandemic. 'I had helped a bit getting food, drinks and masks to the NHS and I really liked how gratifying it was to be able to help people,' he explained.
One of the beneficiaries is the 'Around Again' charity, which runs a social supermarket in Solihull. The supermarket allows families in food poverty to save 80 percent on their weekly shop. A representative said: 'In the beginning we didn't have food products. We have Ryan's family and without those we wouldn't have anything on the shelves to begin with. Unfortunately there is quite a big demand for this kind of service.'
Ryan's mother said the family is very proud of his efforts. 'It's a lot of work, it's a lot of commitments. Ryan started that when he was 10 years old. We saw that it will be for humans, so we won't expect this after four years,' she said.
Ryan is not stopping. By the end of the year, he hopes to involve almost a dozen schools in his recycling scheme, allowing him to crush more cans and help more people.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 |
|---|---|
| Ryan collected over a million cans for recycling, raised over 20,000 pounds for charity, and applied for community funding from Birmingham Airport to buy an industrial crushing machine. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The channel framed Ryan as a 'hero of the week', focusing on his personal dedication and the positive impact on the community. The tone was celebratory and inspirational, highlighting his young age, the scale of his achievement, and the charity work. The segment included direct interviews with Ryan and his mother, as well as a representative from the social supermarket, giving a human-interest angle.
- “we originally started crushing them with our feet um and it took a little while and it was um but every single can counted and it was really important and i just didn't want to give up on it”
- “i really liked how gratifying it was to be able to help people and i spent a little bit thinking about how i could help people on my own free time”
- “well we are very proud because of course it's a lot of work it's a lot of commitments ryan started that when he was 10 years old we saw that it will be for humans so we won't expect this after four years”
Broadcast Timeline
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