Smiles all round for school recycling

New Smiley Face novelty recycling bins have been working their recycling magic at St Albert’s Primary School in Stockbridge Village. Recycling rates have soared by 40% since the bins arrived in January 2013 and are on track to rise even more after the school’s Eco Team scooped Educate Magazine’s Award for Recycling.

Smiley Face novelty recycling bins were created by Leafield Environmental especially to give schools a fun and interactive head start when teaching children to recycle. They form part of the EnviroBuddy collection, which includes planet-friendly SpaceBuddies and the new adorable litter-loving AquaBuddies threesome, Dolphin, Frog and PenguinBuddy.

On average primary schools generate 45kg* of waste per pupil per academic year (40 weeks), mostly made up of food waste, paper and card. Much of this could be recycled and even generate a small income for schools.

Head teacher Lisa Jewel said: “We introduced the smiley faced bins to engage and educate the children to recycle. Their appealing faces certainly helped to drive up recycling rates at the school.

“The Eco Team has done a great job keeping track on the amount of material recycled and recording the increase on a weekly basis.”

Special assemblies and special art projects using recycled materials also raised awareness among pupils and recycling lessons have improved through introducing play.

Leafield’s MD, Phil Maddox said: “We are delighted the novelty bins are really helping to deliver the recycling message to children.

“Working with schools to develop this fun collection of EnviroBuddies has helped us create characters that children can really relate to in a fun learning environment.”

Almost 400 primary and nursery schools have already adopted EnviroBuddies to add an important element of fun and personality to their recycling lessons.