Schools to uncover what waste is recyclable

School children will help challenge the confusion around what can and cannot be recycled as part of a new initiative from Keep Britain Tidy.

Up to 20,000 schools will be taking part in the project through the environmental charity’s Eco Schools programme.

Schools will be asked to take part in a national survey assessing recycling in schools, finding out what waste management resources they have available as well as understanding local authority collections and recycling services.

 Richard McIlwain of Keep Britain Tidy said: “This National survey will be the first if its kind and will allow the schools to help advise on what they believe we should be doing to improve provision and help harmonise recycling services in schools across the country. The report will be published in an easy-to-use infographic format and made available to all relevant parties.
 
“This work by students will provide the springboard for the ‘Circular School 2020 Challenge’ when we’ll be encouraging schools to take an active role in coming up with sustainable waste management solutions.”
 
Nicky Cain of KBT recycling partner Harrogate Water said: “The Eco-Schools project will promote discussion around waste, recycling and the circular economy in the classroom. We know that children are passionate about the environment and want to lead the way in making positive changes.

“This programme gives them the opportunity, not only to uncover the facts about packaging and recycling but to influence the way forward towards a more sustainable future.”

The project is also supported by Plastipak, a UK and global leader in recycling and supplier of recycled PET to Harrogate Water.

Kinza Sutton, Plastipak’s Head of Public Affairs and Sustainability Europe, said: “Plastipak and Harrogate Water are champions of the circular economy and we believe children can play a big part in shaping a sustainable future and challenging the misinformation and confusion around waste management and recycling.”

Harrogate Spring and Keep Britain Tidy are behind the Incredible Shrinking Bottle recycling initiative, urging consumers to recycle their PET bottles, with the message ‘Twist It. Cap It. Recycle It.’

Twisting the PET bottle to make it easy to shrink to a small size was the idea of Emily Eggleston, a pupil of Harrogate Grammar School. “We were playing with the bottle thinking of how best to crush it and found that twisting made it much easier and you can recycle more if you squash it,” she said.

As part of the project, Harrogate Water and Plastipak will add their expertise in recycling and recyclable packaging and producing a video showing the lifecycle of a bottle of Harrogate Spring. All content will be approved by the Assessments and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) and feed into academic subjects, as well as linking into Global Citizenship as part of the National Curriculum.