ISRI and JASON Learning Recognize 2023-2024 Youth Recycling Contest Winners

(April 16, 2024 - Washington, D.C.) – ISRI, the Voice of the Recycled Materials Industry™, and JASON Learning recognized winners of the 10^th Annual 2023-24 Youth Recycling Award contest today at the organization’s ISRI2024 Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada. Contestants in grades K-12 submitted original posters or videos that communicated the theme of "Design for Recycling®," which encouraged students to enhance an existing consumer product using Design for Recycling® principles.

“Congratulations to this year’s students who excelled in creatively communicating the important theme of "Design for Recycling®,” said ISRI President Robin Wiener. “These student winners effectively demonstrated the value of recycling and the importance of planning for recycling when products are conceptualized. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders in championing the essential daily benefits of the recycled materials industry to a sustainable planet.”

This year’s Poster Contest winners are Emily Arendas, Megan Potthoff, and Heather Smarick, who are seniors at Norwin High School in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Their teacher is Joyce Muchoney. Their poster displayed their ideas for redesigning paper plates for increased recyclability, including changes to the product’s packaging, adding a removable bio-based layer, and adding a reuse text reminder on the plates themselves.

The Video Contest winners are Sadie Mangal and Luciana Nishanian, third grade students at Willow Springs Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia. Their teacher is Logan Williams. Their video, “Sustainable Dolls” showed how to redesign toy dolls for recycling by making parts removable, improving labeling and using recyclable cardboard packaging.

“It's incredibly inspiring to witness teachers from all subjects—Math, Science, English, History—have students participating in the contest,” said Dr. Eleanor Smalley, president, and CEO of JASON Learning. “It exemplifies the interdisciplinary nature of recycling education. This year's contest submissions demonstrate the creativity that stems from students recognizing the connections of recycling in different areas of their lives, which made their entries truly exciting and unique!”

Students participated in the Youth Recycling Contest by choosing to create either a poster/infographic or a two-minute video showcasing their improved product and explaining the enhancements made using Design for Recycling® principles. The focus of the contest was to maximize recyclability, reduce costs, eliminate hazardous materials, and minimize time and environmental impact in the recycling process.

For more information about the annual Youth Recycling Contest and the ISRI and JASON Learning curriculum, please contact Natalie Messer Betts nbetts@isri.org or Abigail Shaw ashaw@isri.org.