Wooler First School will unveil its very own recycled plastic playground after it has been named the winner of a national competition to win a sustainable playing field for children.
The playground unveil took place on 24 April 2018 at 1.30 pm at Wooler First School, Wooler, Northumberland, with children, parents, as well as representatives from Febreze, TerraCycle and Tesco attending.
Last summer, Febreze, TerraCycle and Tesco partnered to give schools in the UK a chance to win a playground made from recycled plastic. Community members were encouraged to get involved and help their local schools win by voting for them in the competition. Wooler’s pupils mounted an impressive and enthusiastic campaign to encourage local votes, including a music video. The school received the highest number of votes and won the grand prize.
Scott Popham, senior communications manager at P&G comments: “We hope that the construction of a playground made from recycled plastic will help raise awareness of the issue of plastic recycling amongst the youngest in the UK. We want to expand the program to reach more schools around the country to ensure we spread the message of the importance of recycling and engage communities in a fun activity.’’
Mike Deane-Hall, headteacher at Wooler First School commented: ‘’We are proud and thankful to our community who rallied together to secure this fantastic win for our school. Wooler First School families are very excited for the unveil of our own sustainable playground. Teaching our youngest children about recycling is important for us as for many years we have championed recycling in our community with the children taking the lead - the new playground will help us show that waste doesn’t have to end up in the bin!’’
The recycling rates of councils serving 14 million households in England have fallen over the past five years. The North East of England, where Wooler First School is based, has seen the largest fall in recycling rates amongst its residents*. The Febreze Playground competition focused on raising awareness of the issue of waste recycling amongst the youngest in our society as well as their communities. By recycling waste, this project aimed to help reduce plastic litter from entering nature’s playground and polluting the planet, instead creating play areas for kids to enjoy a bit of fresh air everywhere.
The recycled playground has been built mainly with parts made from recycled plastic lumber from kerbside recycling waste collected in the UK that includes milk bottles, plastic drink bottles, plastic food trays and containers. Construction of a playground made from recycled plastic shows the possibilities of circular economy, with everyday use plastic waste being turned into a playing field.
