Johannesburg - Tetra Pak has joined forces with Woodlands Dairy and PETCO in a school competition called “Choose to Recycle”, to reinforce the significance of recycling of Tetra Pak liquid board packaging.
As a part of the competition roadshow, the companies have visited schools in Humansdorp, Gqeberha and Jeffrey’s Bay in the Eastern Cape. The education-based school competition “Choose to Recycle”, which kicked off in July and will run to the end of November.
Apart from conveying the importance of recycling of Tetra Pak liquid board packaging, the competition aims to teach the children the significance of collective responsibility to protect the environment, while at the same time improving awareness on issues related to Liquid Packaging Board (LPB) separation and collection.
In the Eastern Cape, the competition is running across 22 schools in Gqberha, Humansdorp and Jeffrey’s Bay. Each school has been provided with branded bins where students can place used beverage cartons brought from home, which will be 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 children are further being encouraged to get their parents to purchase products in recyclable Tetra Pak cartons.
The roadshow included lessons with the learners which highlighted the imperatives of recycling of beverage cartons, waste separation, waste pollution and the effect it has on the population.
“It has been refreshing to see the eagerness of the children who have participated in these lessons, as they now have a better understanding of the role they can play in recycling,” Andre Adendorff, sustainability manager at Woodlands Dairy.
The winning school in each area will win 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 towards school equipment.
Apart from these noteworthy prizes, the top collecting school in each area will be able to nominate one underprivileged school of their choice which will win an additional 40 desks made from recycled carton packages.
“We are very pleased to be a part of this campaign,” says Cheri Scholtz, PETCO CEO. “Education around recycling and sustainability is an on-going process and commitment, and visiting the schools has highlighted the need for creating ongoing awareness on recycling of carton packages.”
“Collaboration with our partners has been a key success metric for this competition. We are reaching about 20 000 students and the number of beverage cartons collected is increasing day by day.
“We are hopeful that this campaign will entrench a culture of recycling and sustainability going forward,” added Masale Manoko, sustainability manager, Tetra Pak Southern Africa.