Meet Ryan Hulance, the 13-year-old boy who recycled more than 1 million cans, turned waste into a small business, and raised thousands of dollars for charity

Ryan Hulance, a 13-year-old from Solihull in England's West Midlands, has recycled an estimated 1.5 million aluminium cans and raised around £18,000 for local food banks and charitable causes.

According to a Mileway report, which has supported Ryan's We Can CIC initiative, he has recycled more than 1.5 million cans and raised around £18,000 for local food banks. The company said Ryan carries out the work alongside school and spends up to 20 hours a week collecting, sorting and crushing cans.

The project has grown considerably since Ryan began collecting cans from businesses in his local area.

How Ryan started collecting cans

Ryan began collecting cans when he was 10. The Solihull Observer reported in February 2023 that he had started collecting cans in November 2022 after researching recycling centres that bought empty cans.

He contacted businesses, cafes, pubs and neighbours and asked them to give him cans they no longer needed. The money from the recycled cans was then used to purchase items for local food banks.

In the early stages, Ryan collected only a few hundred cans each week. According to a March 2026 report published by Talker News, his parents helped him save space by crushing the cans by driving over them with their car before Ryan bagged them.

The project grew to thousands of cans each week

The scale of the project has since increased significantly.

Talker News reported in March 2026 that Ryan was collecting around 20,000 cans a week from about 200 regular suppliers. The report also said that his family had been given an industrial crushing machine that bundles the cans into large metal bales.

Ryan had recycled more than 1.5 million cans and was spending up to 20 hours a week on the project.

The Solihull Observer reported in January 2026 that We Can Community was collecting more than one tonne of aluminium cans every month. The group was also looking for larger premises because storing the growing volume of cans at a private residential address was no longer viable.

How much money has Ryan raised

The latest reported figure is around £18,000.

Mileway said Ryan had raised around £18,000 for local food banks after recycling more than 1.5 million aluminium cans. Global Heroes, citing South West News Service, also reported that Ryan had recycled an estimated 1.5 million cans and raised around £18,000 for charity.

In May 2025, Birmingham Airport reported that Ryan and his family had processed more than one million cans and raised more than £6,000 for local food banks. The airport also awarded We Can CIC a £5,000 grant to help the initiative purchase a can baler and increase its processing capacity.

This means the £6,000 figure reported by Birmingham Airport in 2025 should not be treated as the current total. Later reports put the amount raised at around £18,000.

We Can CIC has become a larger community project

The recycling initiative now operates through We Can Community CIC.

The Solihull Observer reported that what began as a small grassroots community effort had grown into a structured operation supported through a Community Interest Company. The group collects aluminium cans and uses the proceeds to support people in need.

A 2024 Solihull Observer report also described We Can Community CIC as an organisation that collects empty drinks cans and turns the resulting revenue into food for local food banks.

Ryan continues the work alongside school

Despite being 13, Ryan continues to collect, sort, and prepare cans after school and on weekends.

Talker News reported that he spends around 20 hours a week on the recycling project. His mother has also said the family wants to expand the initiative and increase the number of regular suppliers.

Ryan's project has therefore grown from collecting a few hundred cans in his local community to handling around 20,000 cans a week, with about 200 regular suppliers and an estimated 1.5 million cans recycled.

The money raised from the aluminium has been directed towards food banks and other charitable causes, while the recycling operation continues to grow.