Record-setting pop tab collection for Ontario boy

It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.

“There were always tabs sitting at our door step. Every day when we’d come home, there would be more. We just kept putting them in the pails,” said Jace’s dad, Curtis.

By the spring of 2023, news of Weber’s pop tab collecting had spread far and wide, service clubs from as far away as Northern Ontario were delivering tabs to Jace’s doorstep.

“We advertised more and went in some parades. [We] asked the school to chip in and help out, and it just took off,” said Jace’s mother, Candice.

It wasn’t long before Jace and his family were thinking about records.

After collecting for one full year, they headed down to the local scales and got Jace’s collection weighed.

A total of 6.2 million pop tabs, weighing a whopping 3,658 pounds, a world record for sure.

Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. is the Guinness World Record holder for most aluminum can tabs collected for recycling in one year, after collecting 6.2 million pop tabs from August 2022-August 2023. (Source: Candice Webe)

“There were 25 rain barrels full. The previous record was 2.6 million pop tabs. Beat it by quite a bit,” said proud dad, Curtis.

Recently made official by the Guinness Book of World Records, Jace, who is on the autism spectrum, is now the world record holder for most aluminum tabs collected for recycling in one year.

His school held a special assembly for him to mark the occasion last week.

But, what happened to all those pop tabs? Last fall, Jace and his family delivered the haul to the March of Dimes, collecting nearly $2,600 he promptly donated back to the organization to help people living with disabilities.

“We’re proud. Honestly, it couldn’t have happened without community, the towns around us, and the school. I feel like everybody loves this kid,” said a beaming, Candice.

Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. is the Guinness World Record holder for most aluminum can tabs collected for recycling in one year, after collecting 6.2 million pop tabs from August 2022-August 2023. (Source: Candice Webe)

“I don’t think something like this could have happened in a big city. It’s definitely a small town thing where everybody just sort of chipped in together,” said Curtis.

But the story isn’t done — Jace, who turns 11 shortly, is still collecting pop tabs. This time to raise money to help fund an accessible playground for his school in Walkerton.

When asked how many more he wants to collect? Jace said "as many as I can." And when followed up with why? His answer was simply, "to help charity."

The Grade 5 student's pop tab collection may not reach record-setting levels, but Jace isn’t chasing history anymore, he just wants to “help someone,” he said.