The annual ABI School Recycling Awards was an uplifting event, showcasing young learner’s talent and commitment to recycling, writes Maryke Foulds.

Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI), the soft drink division of South African Breweries – supported by the PET Recycling Company (PETCO) – recently rewarded environmental excellence at the School Recycling Awards ceremony. Between the throng of excited students, enthusiastic teachers, and dedicated stakeholders and industry players, it is apparent that this is the kind of initiative that gives people and communities their dignity back.

The main aim of the competition has been to make recycling a culture in schools and to educate students, teachers, parents and the whole community about the importance of waste collection and recycling for a sustainable future.

The winner was FF Rebeiro Primary School from Mamelodi West, which walked away with R50 000. The first and second runners up, Boikgantsho Primary School from Mamelodi East and Isekelo Primary from Tembisa, won R30 000 and R20 000 respectively for infrastructural development for their schools. The schools were rewarded for volume collected as well as spirit embodied in their programmes, which includes motivation of learners, use of the educational material, innovation in recycling, as well community involvement.

Surprise winners announced were the 10 recycling heroes from each of the 10 finalist schools, who each walk away with school fees for the year, school uniforms, stationery and school bags, and the two most motivational programme facilitators walk away with iPads. In addition to these prizes, the highest PET collecting school was rewarded with R10 000, and a R50 000 prize was awarded to the top business collector partner.

“On behalf of our partners, we would like to congratulate all our winners for an outstanding effort in greening their schools,” said Gaopaleloe Mothoagae, sustainable development manager at ABI. “We thank and commend the teachers who supported this learning opportunity to enhance the educational experiences for the students and impart invaluable life skills to them.

“It has been a long but rewarding journey for 240 primary schools within ABI territories in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. The focus was on primary school children; in order to change the behaviour patterns of our country we need to change the mindset of a generation.”

“At ABI, it is built into our business culture that we must develop the communities in which we operate. We recognise that the success of our business is intrinsically linked to that of the communities we operate in, and we aim to become more than just a business – we are part of every community,” continued Mothoagae.

ABI has empowered 22 youth (aka Recycling Soldiers) through the programme by providing them with business skills development and entry to the job market. These youth mobilise the collection of recyclable material in the schools by enhancing schools’ performance, creating healthy competition, and monitoring and evaluating the schools.

“The success of the campaign was in achieving and exceeding collection volume expectations. We also recorded overwhelming support from parents and communities. The great partnerships with the local recycling collectors that were forged last year and re-established this year has seen a better understanding of recycling in the various communities becoming evident.

“This is a perfect example of one simple action by young people, supported by us, having a far reaching impact. This is something we can all learn from and a great achievement towards caring for the environment we live, work and play in,” Mothoagae concluded.

The awards in a nutshell

• 240 primary schools in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State participated in the School Recycling Programme
• 255 tonnes of waste in total has been collected and recycled during the programme
• 177 461 children have benefitted from the program to date
• one recycled tin can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours
• one recycled plastic bottle would save enough energy to power a 60 W light bulb for three hours
• R150 000 worth of prizes were awarded to the top participants of the School Recycling Programme