Wastecycle Names Lorry After School Competition Winner

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 19 July 2018

A Nottinghamshire schoolboy’s artistic flair at bringing the importance of recycling alive has been rewarded in an unusual way by an East Midlands waste management company.

Competition winner, Alfie Akers, a Year 9 student at Southwolds Academy & Sixth Form in Keyworth, has had a waste collection lorry named after him!

Alfie’s name sits proudly on the cab of the Wastecycle lorry his entry into a competition to design a poster encouraging his school mates to recycle was chosen as the best by Deputy Head Teacher at the school.

The competition was set by Wastecycle as part of a number of initiatives introduced to help pupils and staff at Southwolds Academy maximise their recycling efforts.

As well as the competition, staff from Wastecycle spoke at assemblies and delivered special lessons to highlight the importance of recycling and to show children what happens to the waste they dispose of correctly.

“We’re really keen to minimise our impact on the environment and want to recycle as much of our waste as possible,” says Southwolds Academy Deputy Head Teacher, Mr Clemmet. “That’s why we decided to engage Wastecycle. As well as providing us with clearly marked waste bins, they’ve also come into school and spoken to our pupils and staff about why it’s important to recycle, how we can maximise our recycling efforts and what happens to the waste they collect from us. They also set the children this competition, which has really brought the subject to life.”

The competition was created by Kay Knowles, Wastecycle’s marketing executive. “We wanted to introduce the idea of recycling to the children in the most engaging way. The poster competition seems to have worked and we received some fantastic entries. Alfie’s design really stood out and will look fantastic when it’s applied to the bins around school.”

Kay returned to the school yesterday (12th July) in a 40-tonne recycling lorry, which is now named after the 13-year-old competition winner.

“It was great to see the lorry with my name on it,” said Alife. “I wasn’t expecting to win, so it was a big surprise! I really enjoyed creating the poster. It was based on everything I’ve learnt about recycling and how important it is to stop as much as possible going to landfill.”

Established in 1998, Wastecycle has grown rapidly and today is the leading resource management and recycling company in the East Midlands. The company uses the latest technologies to help over 3,000 businesses improve resource efficiency and reduce their operating costs by increasing recycling and decreasing carbon emissions. The firm processes more than 500,000 tonnes of commercial, construction and domestic waste materials each year, of which, over 98% is recycled and recovered.

For more information about Wastecycle, please visit www.wastecycle.co.uk

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