5,326 pupils in SW participate in national bottle top recycling initiative

More than 61 schools in the South West of England have registered to take part in a nationwide recycling campaign to raise awareness about the amount of plastic waste being leaked into the environment.

The UK’s leading brand of sustainable composite decking, Composite Prime launched its ‘Message in a Bottle Top’ campaign this year to encourage key stage one and two children to think about the damaging impact plastic pollution has on wildlife and the planet.

Working alongside We are Futures, who run The National Schools Partnership (NSP), Composite Prime has provided 68 teachers, 5,326 children and 9,374 parents in schools across the South West with informative resources, built in line with the national curriculum, to aid lesson planning across art and design, science, maths and citizenship.

As part of the campaign, children will repurpose their own bottle tops into beautiful art murals which can be entered into a competition to win a playground makeover worth £5,000.

A teacher participating in the programme said: “This project really sparked our children’s interest in reducing plastic bottle tops.  Being a green flag school, we are always focused on improving our environment: both local and globally. 

“What we enjoyed about this project was that it isolated one particular environmental problem that is totally within the grasp of our children to help make progress and bring about change.”

All competition entries submitted by schools,  ahead of the deadline on 5th July 2021, will be independently judged by Composite Prime and the top ten schools will have the opportunity to showcase their artwork in an online exhibition.

Composite Prime Director, Charles Taylor added: “We’re absolutely delighted with the reception of our ‘Message in a Bottle Top’ campaign. To know that our planned resources are helping to educate 5,326 children across the region about such a serious issue is incredibly rewarding. 79% of the plastic waste ever created is still in our environment and as a planet we’re leaving behind a legacy that will take years to put right. 

“It’s absolutely crucial that younger generations have an understanding of this so that we’re able to combat the issue and make the world a cleaner place for future generations. We can’t wait to see the childrens’ competition entries and their beautiful artwork.”  

Overall, across the UK, 785 schools,  845 teachers,  110,432 pupils and 194,360 parents are taking part in Composite Prime’s Message in a Bottle Top campaign.  

Composite Prime creates eco-friendly and socially responsible decking and cladding products, made using recycled plastic and FSC® certified oak wood flour. In the last six years of operation, the business has saved the equivalent of 151 million plastic milk bottles from landfill, with each square metre of composite decking containing the equivalent of more than 3,000 plastic bottle caps or 280 plastic bottles. 

To find out more about Composite Prime’s Message in a Bottle Top recycling programme, visit the website.