21 July 2010 Edenfield School wins prize for Recycling.
Green-minded school children from Edenfield CE Primary School have scooped a top prize for their recycling efforts. A total of 21 primary schools in Rossendale have been enthusiastically collecting old batteries as part of a 'Tune into Battery Recycling' scheme. These schools were all hoping to win a prize of a laptop, or vouchers for school sports equipment, as a reward for their efforts. The top three performing schools have won a prize. Edenfield CE Primary School was named the top recycler and received a laptop computer provided by Valpak Limited and presented to the school by Lancashire County Councillor Mike France at a special prize-giving event at the Woodlands Conference Centre on 16th July. Waterfoot Primar! y School was placed second, winning £200 worth of sports equipment vouchers, and Bacup St Saviour's Catholic Primary School bagged third place, receiving £100 of sports equipment vouchers. The school rankings were calculated by dividing the total tonnage of batteries collected by the number of pupils in the school, which ensured that the success of the pupils, rather than the size of the school, was rewarded. Lancashire County Council is working in partnership with Valpak Limited, which under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 provides battery recycling services that are helping the UK to increase battery recycling levels from the current 3% to 45% by 2016. Under this partnership, Valpak Limited is supporting Lancashire County Council's 'Tune into Battery Recycling' scheme. During the latest round of this scheme, which has run for the last year, schools in Rossendale have collectively diverted 945 tonnes - the eq! uivalent of over 31513 batteries - from landfill, which is an ac hievement in itself. Lancashire County Councillor Mike France, lead member for communities and partnerships, said: "The county council has been working hard to encourage more recycling of used household batteries. "As part of those efforts, the council introduced a recycling initiative for primary schools in Lancashire in 2004 and it has proved a great success. This year alone 360 schools across the county that took part in our 'Tune into Battery Recycling' scheme diverted more than 19 tonnes of used batteries from landfill, that is the equivalent of about 630,000 batteries. "All the schools taking part in this scheme deserve to be praised for their recycling efforts and I would especially like to congratulate the winners from each district." Following the enthusiasm and success of schools taking part in this initiative, the Tune in to Battery Recycling scheme will continue for a further year. For the full news article and to be taken to the website, click here | 
