Nestle Waters plastics recycling education programme delivers results

EDGWARE (Scrap Monster):  According to U.K.-based RECOUP (Recycling of Used Plastics Ltd.), the packaging and recycling industries need new ways to help consumers understand that their recycling actions can make a difference. “To be able to maximise circular opportunities, we need to influence the next generation of recyclers to be able to recover as much material as possible, whether it’s from the home, at school or in work or out and about ‘on the go’,” the company states in a news release announcing its partnership with Nestle Waters and Wastebuster on a plastics recycling educational programme.

This year Nestlé Waters has delivered its R-Generation plastics recycling educational programme and competitions to schools in its Recycle Cycle recycling scheme in Buxton, U.K.

Katy Newnham, director at Wastebuster, says, “The R-Generation program aims to generate a positive social norm around proenvironmental waste behaviours. Although schools represent only a small percentage of the waste generation in this country, they house 100 percent of tomorrow's population—making the knowledge, values and skills they adopt today, essential for a sustainable future.”

Developed with partners RECOUP and Wastebuster, Plastic Recycling School Education Packs were developed for primary and secondary schools. Linked to the primary and secondary curriculum, the packs included content for multimedia interactive assemblies, new videos, lesson plans and teacher’s notes. Each pack has different content based on the age ranges it is aimed at.

Steve Morgan, technical manager at RECOUP, says, “There are many key areas of the curriculum which can now be used to educate about the benefits to our new developing thinking about circular resources and economies. Engaging with students provides a ripple effect into the community and drives the behaviour change we want to see across our society.”

These packs were used alongside a primary school Pledge 4 Plastics competition and a secondary school enterprise competition, both with exclusive prizes.

Lyn Picken, communications manager at Nestlé Waters, says, “I’m delighted that school students across Buxton have had the opportunity to learn about plastic as a material and the benefits of recycling plastic bottles. The new education resources we have developed can be shared so they can be used to bring about a positive impact in other communities.”

The Primary School Education Pack was designed to help students understand the recycling journey of plastic bottles, with the competition inviting pupils, teachers and their families to pledge to recycle one more plastic bottle every week through the project pledge-o-meter to win Baby Bustas, the U.K.’s first 100-percent-rPET soft toy, made from five recycled plastic bottles.

Jointly won by Peak Dale Primary and Burbage Primary schools, the schools say the children and their families and friends have really enjoyed pledging to recycle more plastic, with the pledging providing a ripple effect into the wider community.

Helen Stamp, head teacher at Peak Dale Primary School, says, “Peak Dale Primary School children and their families have really enjoyed pledging to recycle more plastic through the Nestle Waters Recycling Scheme. Our children are now ‘ECO ambassadors’ and their message is ‘Everyone can help look after our planet too!’”

In the secondary schools, students explored plastic as a material and they were encouraged to think differently about it using the positive message that plastic bottles collected for recycling in Buxton can become great new products, such as like jeans, football shirts and headphones.

The competition asked students to use creative, enterprise and innovation skills to come up with ideas to engage the public to recycle, whether at school, at home, or on the go, with the winning ideas receiving high street vouchers. Among the entries were fun bins in schools, voting bins where you can use your used plastic bottles to cast a vote against a local or topical question, a recycling token scheme and a cost-effective and sustainable way to recycle at festivals.

The programme is being trialled in Buxton with a view to being made freely available to schools nationally, RECOUP says.

Courtesy: www.recyclinginternational.com