Schoolchildren in Co Tyrone have been busy collecting plastic waste - so it can be made into new furniture for their classrooms.
The kids at Omagh's Gortin Primary School have teamed up with waste management firm, MYGroup, for the innovative recycling scheme which will cost the school nothing.
All they have to do is collect plastic bottle tops, which will then be transformed into fixtures and fittings for their school through advanced technological processes which mean the plastic bottle tops - normally destined for landfill or incineration as most local authorities lack the facilities to process such items - can be completely recycled.
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A spokesperson for Gortin Primary School said: "We love the SchoolCycled scheme and so do the children!"
The SchoolCyled project is incentivising primary school kids across the UK to recycle their waste, rather binning it.
Steve Carrie, director at MYGroup, said: "We are committed to educating the next generation about the importance of recycling and sustainability. Focusing on such a simple, but a nonetheless prevalent item of plastic waste as a bottle top encourages children to engage in the process of recycling at an early age, while the items we manufacture from the processed material demonstrate the circular economy in action.
"I'm proud to be working with Gortin as part of the roll-out of the SchoolCycled scheme across the UK and we encourage every primary school to get involved."
Yorkshire-based MYGroup is a market leader in processing waste considered ‘unrecyclable’. Like any plastic waste considered hard or impossible to recycle – such as packaging film or items of cosmetic and clinical waste – MYGroup will process the collected bottle tops into MYboard™, a material similar in consistency to plywood.
MYboard will be used to manufacture a range of furniture and fittings for the school, including chairs, tables and desks, A-boards and mud kitchens. Pupils will be able to choose products based on the weight of bottle tops they have collected.
In addition, MYGroup is providing the school with a series of free online lesson plans covering the impact of plastic pollution and the importance of recycling and sustainability. The company has also provided recycling boxes for collection of the bottle tops and branded materials to promote and reinforce participation in the scheme, such as posters, certificates and stickers.
The SchoolCycled scheme aligns with the Department for Education’s strategy on sustainability education, which aims to prepare young people for a world impacted by climate change through learning and practical experience.
MYGroup is currently in talks to activate SchoolCycled in hundreds more schools and is keen to speak to potential sponsors to help expand the programme. The company currently funds the scheme entirely, with no cost to the schools involved.
Find out more at: https://www.mygroupltd.com
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