Canon Middle East, leader in imaging solutions, has announced its support for the 14th edition of Emirates Environmental Group’s (EEG) Aluminum Can Collection campaign that runs until May.

The company has partnered with EEG to organise an environment-themed photography contest that is open to all participants of the Can Collection campaign. The winning photographs will be used in various promotional materials and winners will be felicitated during EEG’s annual awards ceremony in June.

The 2011 Can Collection campaign comprises two major events – the Can Collection Day held on February 24 and the Can Collection Drive on May 7. This year, EEG is targeting collection of 23,000 kilograms of aluminium cans through this campaign that involves academic institutions, corporate bodies, government departments and the public.

An estimated 500 million beverage cans are sold annually in the UAE, with only 5 per cent of the cans recycled, as against 63 per cent recycled worldwide. Recycling aluminum needs only 5 per cent of energy required for primary aluminum production, which clearly underlines the advantages of recycling used cans.

“Our support to EEG’s Can Collection campaign complements our involvement in a host of similar initiatives in the region. Canon's continuing commitment to the environment is in line with our philosophy of Kyosei, which is the concept of living and working together for the common good,” said Anurag Agrawal, managing director, Canon Middle East.

“Can Collection Campaign is the first community-oriented initiative of EEG which has been part of EEG’s annual events since 1997,” said Habiba Al Marashi, EEG chairperson.

Late last year, Canon Middle East participated in EEG’s “UAE Clean Up drive” initiative, where more than 50 employees from Canon Middle East and Canon Emirates took part.

One of the key initiatives implemented by Canon last year was a partnership agreement with EnviroServe to ensure proper disposal and recycling of end-of-life Canon consumer electronic products and service parts across the Middle East.

Another initiative was the signing of the company’s licensing agreement with Emirates Wildlife Society – WWF for the X-MARK 1 solar-powered business calculator that is manufactured using residual parts from Canon digital cameras.-TradeArabia News Service