A Lambeth schools competition which encouraged pupils to recycle as much waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as possible within a week has be won by Ashmole Primary School in Oval.
The aim of the competition was to raise awareness amongst schoolchildren that their unwanted electrical appliances and gadgets can be recycled instead of just being thrown away. Each participating school was provided with a large pink skip for one week to fill it as much as possible, with the winning school determined by the highest average number of kilograms of WEEE collected per child.
Ashmole Primary School scooped the top prize of £500 with 4.82kgs per head (1.1 tonne). Vauxhall Primary School came second with 1.95kgs per head (0.42 tonnes), winning £300, while Herbert Morrison Primary School took the third prize of £200 with 1.74kgs per head (0.40 tonnes).
Lambeth Council and its recycling and waste management contractor Veolia joined forces with electronic waste recyclers SWEEEP Kuusakoski to promote the campaign to tackle the growing amount of WEEE going to costly landfill.
Darren Duquemin, Premises Officer at Ashmole Primary School, said: “We are very happy to have taken part and especially to have won. We also enjoyed working with the local community in raising awareness about recycling and hope this will spark future recycling events.”
Cllr Jenny Brathwaite, Lambeth Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability, said: “I congratulate the pupils at Ashmole Primary School for their super effort, and praise all the children who took part. Recycling is the responsibility of all and educational events like this play an important role in raising awareness of the need to cut waste.”
Amanda Hamley, Commercial Assistant at SWEEEP Kuusakoski, said: ““This scheme provided a great opportunity for schools to get involved in a project that was not only great for the environment, but also fun, with the added incentive to win cash prizes. It was an excellent way to highlight that it’s not just the larger electrical items that need recycling, but also the smaller ones such as kettles, toasters and hairdryers, that often end up in the household waste bin and ultimately landfill. Any way that we can reduce this happening can only be good.”
Clement Gaubert, WEEE Compliance Scheme Manager for Veolia, said: “The Veolia WEEE Scheme is delighted to work with Lambeth Council on this initiative. We believe the competition has been a great success and has helped to raise awareness among young people about the benefits of recycling electrical waste.”