Food processing and packaging solutions company, Tetra Pak, has embarked on a partnership with Woodlands Dairy and its First Choice brand, Gayatri Paper Mills, and PETCO Producer Responsibility Organisation NPC, to increase awareness of the importance of recycling amongst school-goers, and the importance of collective responsibility to protect the environment.
The aim of the campaign is to encourage learners to take on the responsibility of recycling where they can, which will be done through an education-based competition called “Choose to Recycle” at schools in the Eastern Cape between July and November 2023.
“We aim to develop a platform to support the entire value chain in driving effective collection and recycling in South Africa.
“The starting point was announcing our partnership with PETCO to drive recycling of used beverage cartons last year,” said Masale Manoko, Tetra Pak Southern Africa sustainability manager.
The competition started on Tuesday, July 18 to educate learners on the importance of sorting, collecting, and recycling, as well as what Tetra Pak carton packages are made of.
Gayatri Paper mills will be recycling all the collected cartons.
All schools will be provided with branded bins where learners can place the used beverage packages they collect from home.
The contents of the bins will be collected weekly, and schools will be able to track their progress via an app.
Learners will be encouraged to get their parents to purchase products in recyclable Tetra Pak products, with the hope that this trend will continue long after the competition has ended.
The winning school 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 third will be R5 000.
Apart from these significant prizes, the top collecting school in each area will be able to nominate one under-privileged school each to win an additional 40 desks made from recycled carton packages.
“It is a great opportunity for us to be involved in this campaign,” says Marisa Maccaferri of Woodlands Dairy.
“With the amount of waste generated projected to increase by 70 percent by 2050, we know our responsibility in helping to reduce our footprint on the environment by increasing the awareness of the critical importance of recycling.”
“We are very happy to be a part of this campaign,” says Cheri Scholtz, PETCO CEO.
As part of the campaign, Tetra Pak, along with Woodlands Dairy and PETCO, will run roadshows focusing on recycling beverage cartons.
Learners will have an opportunity to take part in an exciting one-hour lesson about recycling, covering topics such as what recycling is and how to separate waste, waste pollution and its effect on the population, and how to identify recycling symbols. The roadshow will run until August 30.
- Graslaagte Primary School
- Kruisfontein Primary School
- Lungiso Public High School
- Mzingisi Primary School
- Paul Sauer High School
- Nico Malan High School
- Stulting Primary School
- St Patrick’s Primary School
- Victory Christian School
- Pellsrus Primary School
- Makukhanye Primary School
- King’s College – Victory4All
- Jbay Comprehensive School
