25/02/2005

School children in Belfast recycling initiative

Local school children have been praised for their efforts to help promote recycling issues in Belfast.

Pupils from some 32 Belfast primary schools collected almost 6,500 old copies of the ‘Yellow Pages’ business telephone directory in two months, as part of Belfast City Council’s contribution to the annual 'Yellow Woods Challenge', the educational campaign run by Yellow Pages and the Woodland Trust.

Six schools which collected the most copies were rewarded for their efforts by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Tom Ekin, at a special prize presentation at City Hall this morning.

Commenting on the initiative, Martin Doherty, Waste Manager with Belfast City Council, said: “Belfast City Council is committed to promoting and encouraging recycling at all levels of society, and the education of our young people about the benefits of recycling is an important step along the road to fulfilling this commitment.

“By combining education with fun and tangible rewards, the Yellow Woods Challenge is a very exciting competition and the Council is delighted that teachers and pupils once again have shown such enthusiasm.”

All of the directories collected by the pupils, and those from the other 27 schools which took part in the competition, will be recycled into egg boxes.

(MB/SP)

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