During the 2022 The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC) Annual Schools Competition, the company has observed several significant developments among participating regional schools. Notably, schools located in and around Pretoria, Gauteng, have made remarkable strides in glass collection and are currently at the forefront of the province’s competition for glass recycling initiatives. The top three Gauteng winners are all schools in the Pretoria area. Johannesburg clearly needs to catch up in this year’s competition.
Aware of the importance of fostering a positive recycling culture in schools, The Glass Recycling Company generously awarded R30 000 to Gereformeerde Skool Dirk Postma, located in Waverley, Pretoria, for collecting the most glass bottles and jars to be recycled. In total, more than 48 000 glass bottles and jars—an astounding 16 177 kg of glass was collected by the school during 2022. If you stacked all the glass bottles collected by the school end to end – they would reach 12 kilometers into the air! This is the height that most commercial aeroplanes fly at!
In essence, the Annual Schools Competition is a contest and benchmarking tool for learners to promote waste reduction activities in their communities by getting involved in glass recycling, reducing littering, and ultimately elevating their awareness of environmental preservation.
There was a very small gap between St. Paulus Pre-and Primary School and Kiddies Academy Lynnwood in terms of the total amount of glass collected, with the former saving approximately 32 000 glass bottles and jars or 11 thousand kilograms from landfill, while 31 000 glass bottles and jars were collected at Kiddies Academy Lynnwood, weighing just over 10 thousand kilograms. For their efforts, St. Paulus Pre-and Primary School received R20 000, and Kiddies Academy Lynnwood took third place, receiving R10 000.
The three schools have gathered a combined total of 111 018 glass bottles and jars, totaling 37 006 kg equal to approximately 7 adult elephants in weight!
Participating schools are provided with dedicated glass banks to collect their glass waste every month. In addition, TGRC provides educational materials to the various schools in order to equip educators with the tools they need to foster an all-encompassing understanding of the glass recycling process and its importance.
At the awards prize-giving which took place at each school, TGRC’s National Business Development Officer, Innocent Godo, expressed his passion for the recycling initiative.
“The competition’s success is built on the participating schools’ unwavering commitment to moving the programme forward. We have recognised the need for TGRC to support eco-understanding and be supportive of teachers who impart this valuable knowledge to our young children as well as their parents. We intend to continue to support the schools who participate annually and help them gain these valuable prizes for their benefit. Not only this, but the campaign also allows for increasing volumes of glass collections year on year and an improved understanding of the value of glass recycling,” Godo said.
Shabeer Jhetam, CEO of TGRC added that teaching students how recycling benefits their school, community, and environment will also communicate what is at stake if we don’t take care of it, further highlighting TGRC’s commitment to advancing environmental education through a focused strategy that seeks to empower schools through initiatives that will develop sustainability pioneers.
“By creating leaders for sustainability, we hope to not only promote recycling but also generate enthusiasm,” Jhetam concluded.
Schools can now submit applications for the 2023 Schools Recycling Competition. The competition is open to schools in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal in the greater Durban and Pietermaritzburg, Western Cape, inclusive of the Cape Town Metro and the Winelands District Municipalities, as well as the Eastern Cape – Gqeberha and East London metros.
For more information about how to receive a free glass bank for your school to join the competition you can contact The Glass Recycling Company on 011 803 0767 or via email thandi@tgrc.co.za. You can also visit the TGRC website at: www.tgrc.co.za or Facebook page www.facebook.com/TheGlassRecyclingCo.
