Cumberland Council is calling on primary and secondary school pupils to get involved in this year’s Baa-ttery Recycling Competition, helping to keep their communities safe by collecting used batteries for recycling instead of throwing them away.
Every year, around 3.2 million batteries are thrown away in Cumbria, equivalent in weight to more than 3,650 Herdwick sheep. To help tackle this, Cumberland Council, in partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council and Biffa, is relaunching the Baa-ttery Recycling Competition for a second year.
The campaign aims to prevent fires caused by discarded batteries ending up in general waste or recycling bins. When damaged during transport or treatment, batteries can ignite or even explode, posing serious risks to waste and recycling workers and damaging equipment.
Running from Monday 3 November to Friday 13 February, the competition invites primary and secondary schools across Cumberland to collect as many used batteries as possible for safe recycling.
To ensure a level playing field, winners will be determined by the number of batteries collected per pupil, giving schools of all sizes a fair chance of winning.
Children are being encouraged to “herd” their used batteries into school collection points over the coming months, particularly through the busy festive season when battery use is at its highest.
Thanks to the support of Cumberland Council and Westmorland & Furness Council, there are twelve exciting prizes to be won:
- 4 x £300 book token prizes
- 4 x £200 book token prizes
- 4 x £100 book token prizes
Councillor Bob Kelly, Executive Member for Environment and Planning at Cumberland Council, said:
“We’re delighted to bring back the Baa-ttery Recycling Competition after last year’s fantastic success. It’s a fun and engaging way for young people to learn about recycling safely while helping protect our environment and the people who work in it.”
Schools can sign up and find out more by emailing [email protected].