Any old iron for a new church building?

An ambitious recycling project will see a new church built in Glasgow- made entirely out of old beer cans, car tyres and straw bales.

Colston Milton Parish Church

The Colston Milton Parish Church in the Milton area of Glasgow- one of the poorest parts of the city, plan to construct a new building made entirely out of recyclable junk.

More than two tonnes of used aluminium cans have been collected by local residents, who aim to gather another two tonnes to complete the church. While some will be used in construction, some will also be sold to help fund the project.

The cans will be used to build walls and furniture while the tyres will be used as foundations. Insulation will be provided by the straw bales. They will also use industrial pallets and shipping containers to build rooms.

An accompanying community building will be made from more than 500 car tyres, 300 timber pallets and 12 shipping containers, as well as old roof tiles and scaffolding planks.

The plans have already received funding from the Scottish Government, the lottery and Glasgow City Council but those behind the project plan to raise another £2.2 million to expand the scheme. They plan to add a café, offices and a gallery set in landscaped gardens and hope the venture will be complete by 2014.

Rev Christopher Rowe, minister at Colston Milton Parish Church, said: "Our aim is to create a building with as many recycled materials as possible to use less energy and create fewer emissions."

"We are creating a new building for ourselves – one can, one tyre, one straw bale at a time."

Rev Rowe added that many people loved the idea of using beer cans to make a church. He said: "I think they find something ironic and rather amusing about it."

The scheme has been praised by the Scottish government. Richard Lochead, the Environment Minister, said:

"This shows just what can be achieved. Scotland's households already recycle nearly 44% of waste, but there's still a lot more to make Scotland a truly zero waste society."