Most 13-year-olds spend their weekends playing video games.

Ryan Hulance spends his time collecting cans.

The teenager from Solihull in England has raised thousands of pounds for charity by recycling more than one million aluminium cans, turning a simple idea into a growing community project.

Ryan first came up with the plan in 2023. He wanted to help local food banks while also doing something positive for the environment.

His solution was straightforward: collect used cans and sell them to scrap metal companies.

Aluminium recyclers typically pay between 20p and 90p per kilogram, which works out to about 65 cans per kilogram. Ryan started by contacting local businesses near his home in the West Midlands to ask if they would donate their empty cans.

At first, the project was small.

Ryan gathered a few hundred cans each week and stored them at home. To make room, his parents would crush the cans by driving over them with their car before Ryan bagged them up.

Before long, the numbers grew.

Last year alone, Ryan collected eight tonnes of cans, raising about $6,000 for charity. He donated the money to a women’s support organization.

Over the past three years, he estimates he has recycled about 1.5 million cans, raising roughly $18,000 that he has given away to charitable causes.

The project has expanded so much that Ryan now collects about 20,000 cans every week.

He even created his own organization, called We Can CIC, a community interest company focused on recycling and fundraising.

Ryan’s family, who run a garage, received an industrial crushing machine to help manage the growing volume of cans. The machine compresses them into large metal bales that are easier to transport to recycling companies.

Today, Ryan works with around 200 regular suppliers, including businesses that save their cans specifically for him.

He spends about 20 hours a week on the project, collecting cans after school and on weekends.

“Sometimes I think I’d rather be playing video games with my friends, because I’m 13 years old,” Ryan said.

“But actually when I think about it more deeply, I really love what I do because I get to help people and families who are in need.”

“I came up with the idea because I wanted to help people and the environment at the same time.”

“I came up with recycling cans and it just took off from there.”

Ryan’s family hopes the project will continue to grow. They believe it could also help support recycling efforts in nearby Birmingham, which has faced challenges with waste collection during a bin workers’ strike.

His mother, Karima Hulance, says the family is proud of what Ryan has built.

“We are very proud of Ryan and really want to help him expand,” she said.

“The cans come from around 200 regular suppliers but we want to broaden that to many thousands.”

“For the last three months we have recycled one tonne per month but we are capable of much much more.”

For Ryan, the goal remains simple: Keep collecting cans, keep helping people, and prove that even a small idea can make a big difference.