Battery recycling comp for schools

Local pupils are being urged to recycle batteries to be in with a chance to win vouchers for their schools.

Powys County Council is once again running its battery recycling competition and urging schools to sign up to be in with a chance to winning vouchers.

The school which collects the most batteries per pupil could win a share of £500 worth of Amazon vouchers. The competition is being sponsored by the European Recycling Platform, a leading battery and electronics firm.

Over 4,000 schoolchildren took part in last year’s competition, collecting over 1.7 tonnes of household batteries – more than the weight of a medium-sized car.

Llanbedr Church in Wales School, near Crickhowell, won the competition after collecting an impressive 4.77kg per pupil between September and December 2017.

The council’s Waste and Recycling Team are hoping that the competition will help the county meet recycling targets, cut landfill and carbon emissions and inspire the next generation to recycle more.

Schools who sign up will be provided with a free battery box and will compete over the autumn term to collect as many domestic batteries as possible. This includes the standard AA and AAA nickel cadmium batteries, button cell batteries, power packs from tools and mobile phone and laptop batteries.

Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, said: “This year’s competition will run until schools break up for the Easter holidays, which means that pupils will have longer to collect as many household batteries as possible.”

To get involved, email waste.awareness@powys.gov.uk