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Alcan International Micro-business Network

Lead Organisation:

Alcan Inc.

Where:

Canada, USA, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia

Time period:

ongoing

Web link:

http://www.reseau.qc.ca/micro-entreprises

Partners:

Quebec Foundation for Entrepreneurship

Aims/Objectives:

	Increasing aluminum recycling and the recycling of other discarded materials.
	Raising community awareness of the many benefits of recycling.
	Instilling principles of sustainability and entrepreneurship in school children.
	The partnership addresses the three legs of sustainable development:
	Environment - Students become directly involved in scrap collection and recycling of aluminum cans, grocery bags and paper.
	Society - Through the micro-businesses, students learn important skills that will benefit them throughout their working years.
	Economy - Once set up, individual school micro-business programs become self financing with revenues resulting from recovery and recycling of aluminum cans and grocery bags, and the sale of gifts and novelty items.

Measurable results and specific targets:

	179 schools in 5 countries have successfully set up a micro-business programs, with over 30,000 children participating in the programs.
	School children in Brazil, for example, collected approximately 1,262,400 aluminum cans in the year 2000 alone.

Implementation mechanisms and further application:

	A website has been established to provide updated information.
	Alcan and its partners continue to provide ongoing support to the micro-business initiatives already underway.
	Following the provision of some seed funding, individual micro-businesses are intended to become self-financing with implementation of their revenue-generating business operations.
	Capacity building takes place through the training of primary school teachers to develop their own skills in providing environmental education to their students; and
	Development of educational materials, environmental training books, and specially designed workbooks that teach business management skills in an environmental and socially responsible context.
	The success of the program in different regions has demonstrated that it can be adapted to meet different cultural and social customs and educational practices, making it a useful international model.