The pilot school competition has been impactful, delivering for recycling approximately 100 000 cartons to date.
The ‘Choose to Recycle’ school competition currently running in schools in the Eastern Cape in partnership with Tetra Pak, Woodlands Diary, Gayatri Mills and PETCO encouraging learners to recycle liquid packaging board (LPB) is a huge success.
The education-based competition teaching learners the importance and necessity of recycling is running across 22 schools in Gqeberha, Humansdorp and Jeffreys Bay. Each school has been provided with branded bins where learners can place used beverage cartons brought from home based on the training they’ve received. The cartons are collected and taken to Gayatri Paper Mills to be recycled. The contents of the bins are collected weekly, and schools can track their progress via an App.
The competition which kicked-off in July and will be running until the end of November has been doing exceptionally well and the top three leading schools in each area are:
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Humansdorp leaderboard |
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School Name |
Total number of cartons collected |
Number of cartons per capita as of 29 September 2023 |
Placement |
|
Stulting Primary School |
18 468 |
34.2 |
1 |
|
Paul Sauer High School |
9 818 |
22.16 |
2 |
|
St Patrick’s Primary School |
7 617 |
11.0 |
3 |
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Jeffreys Bay leaderboard |
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School Name |
Total number of cartons collected |
Number of cartons per capita as of 29 September 2023 |
Placement |
|
Kings College |
3 472 |
9.04 |
1 |
|
Victory Christian School |
3 099 |
10.09 |
2 |
|
Pellsrus Primary School |
1 951 |
1.53 |
3 |
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Gqeberha leaderboard |
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School Name |
Total number of cartons collected |
Number of cartons per capita as of 29 September 2023 |
Placement |
|
Westering Primary School |
12 004 |
12.5 |
1 |
|
Westering High School |
9 538 |
10.39 |
2 |
|
Herbert Hurd Primary School |
7 669 |
8.72 |
3 |
The ‘Choose to Recycle’ competition has been met with great enthusiasm by learners. Many of them have expressed their gratitude for the competition, emphasizing how it has increased their awareness on the importance of recycling. This newfound understanding has not only boosted their interest in the competition but has also developed a passion for recycling and an understanding on how they can play their part in protecting our planet.
The winning school in each area will receive R25 000 to put towards school equipment plus 40 desks made from recycled Tetra Pak carton packages. The second prize will be R10 000, and the third prize will be R5 000,00 for school equipment. Apart from these noteworthy prizes, the top collecting school in each area will be able to nominate one underprivileged school of its choice which will win an additional 40 desks made from recycled carton packages.
Marisa Maccaferri, Marketing Executive at Woodlands Dairy is encouraging all schools and learners to continue with their efforts and said, “We are thrilled to see learners actively engaging in recycling and environmental consciousness through the ‘Choose to Recycle’ competition. Learners should keep pushing, collecting more cartons, and making a difference until the very end of this competition.”
Masale Manoko, Sustainability Manager at Tetra Pak Southern Africa, added that, “It’s heartening to witness the positive impact this competition has had on our young learners. The impressive numbers reflect the dedication of the learners and schools involved in the competition. Their commitment to recycling is commendable, and we look forward to seeing more incredible contributions as the competition continues.”
Within the last three years, Tetra Pak invested around R34 million in the collection and recycling local ecosystem, aiming to boost the effective recycling rate of our packages.
In 2023, we are investing R18 million to support the industry. This shows our commitment to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Our goal is to surpass 8,500 tonnes in collection and recycling, pushing us closer to a more sustainable future.
