Scrap University Kids rebrands to Recycling is like Magic

Scrap University Kids, a division of Bellingham, Washington-based Scrap University aimed at teaching children about metal recycling, has rebranded to Recycling is like Magic (RilMa). The company has launched a new website and logo to align with the rebrand.

RilMa President Jessica Alexanderson says the rebrand was partially sparked by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ name change to the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), which it announced at the end of its 2024 conference in April. However, she also attributes the change to the public’s familiarity with the word “recycling” as opposed to “scrap.”

“We’re still obviously scrap geeks. We’re still going to talk about scrap,” she says. “But I have noticed, especially with schools, when I tell [the students] I’m with Scrap University Kids … they don’t really understand what that is.”

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Under its new name, RilMa and the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), Washington, will host a second annual can recycling contest. Last school year, The Million Cans Recycling Contest collected 1.3 million cans across eight elementary schools. The competition challenged second- and third-grade students in communities lacking recycling outlets to collect used aluminum cans. Participating schools earned funding from selling the cans to local scrap yards, and CMI provided a total of $12,000 to schools as they met specific goals in the collection process.

The upcoming contest has a bigger goal in mind and will be called the Two Million Can Recycling Contest. RilMa plans to double contest participation by engaging an estimated 16 schools and will feature more incentives for participating students, including a $500 bonus for collecting 150,000 cans.

RilMa also plans to release its third children’s book in its four-book metal recycling series, focusing, this time, on the melting process. The company is partnering with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Steel to produce the book. The first two books in the series, “The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans” and “A Recycling Adventure to the Scrap Yard,” aim to educate readers about collection and scrap yard operations respectively.  

“We’re going to try to put [the melting process] into a book for kids to show how cool the furnaces and melting process are,” Alexanderson says.

RilMa also plans to release an animated web series called “Heavy Metal Superheroes,” featuring its book series’ main character, Ellie, and her friends as they learn about, collect and drop off recycled materials at a scrap yard.

For more information and updates, visit the Recycling is like Magic website.