Schools around the country are helping to make South Africa a cleaner and healthier place according to the results of the latest Schools Recycling Competition.
According to Mpact Recycling, custodians of the competition, several schools around the country have managed to increase their recycling figures significantly year-on-year. Donna-Mari Noble, Mpact Recycling communication manager, says the competition, which runs from February to September every year, encourages nursery schools, primary schools and high schools in Gauteng, Pretoria, Midrand, Durban, Richards Bay and Cape Town to collect as much recyclable paper and packaging as possible.School success stories
One of the notable success stories is Kids Haven, a pre-school based in Benoni. Noble says the school collected over 11 tonnes in 2017. “ What is so extraordinary about Kids Haven is that in 2016 they collected 2.5 tonnes of recyclable material. Only a year later, the school’s 176 pupils managed to collect over 11 tonnes. Those are pretty impressive numbers.” Another school to boost its collection rate significantly was Bergvliet Primary School in Cape Town. The school’s collection rate increased from 9.7 tonnes in 2015 and 14.7 tonnes in 2016, to more than 32 tonnes in 2017. Snipper Snip Kleuterskool in Pretoria also collected an impressive 11 tonnes in 2017, exceeding its 3.3 tonnes figure in 2016.In Alberton, Dumbo Nursery School’s 134 children increased their collection numbers from 15 tonnes in 2016 to more than 18 tonnes in 2017 while Summerhill School in Midrand grew its tonnage from 8 tonnes in 2015 and 9.5 tonnes in 2016 to 14.8 tonnes in 2017.
In addition, Durban-based Kloof Senior Primary collected 35 tonnes and La Lucia Junior Primary’s collected 25.6 tonnes of recyclable material in 2017. “These schools not only out-performed other schools in their districts, but increased their tonnage consistently over the years,” says Noble.
