British Glass and its members have teamed up with the National Schools Partnership to help children become Glass Guardians with an exciting new recycling education project.
Produced especially for 7-11 year olds, the initiative encourages children to champion the importance of recycling all glass bottles and jars whilst educating them about how glass is 100% recyclable – and can be re-melted indefinitely with no loss of quality.
Brook Hayes, Communications Manager at British Glass says: “School children are our future and we want them to understand that every single glass jar and bottle that gets recycled counts.
“At present, around one third of the bottles and jars we use never get the chance to be made into new glass - because people don’t always recycle. By linking with the National Schools Partnership we are reaching out to the next generation and encouraging them to champion the importance of recycling to protect their planet.”
Glass Guardians provides teachers with a full set of fun cross-curricular materials including an engaging video, activity sheets and teacher’s notes. A competition asking the children to enter their creative ideas to get people recycling more glass will also run - with prizes of tablets for children and equipment vouchers for schools up for grabs.
All of the activity is designed to help schools with their Eco School Awards - an internationally recognised award for excellence in environmental action and learning.
Glass manufacturer, Ardagh Group and UK recycling company, Viridor – both British Glass members – have supported the project by providing footage for the Glass Guardians video.
Steven Weaver, Head of Recycling Assets (Glass) at Viridor, said: “We are delighted to help get children on board with recycling: glass should never be wasted – with its endless recycling opportunities, glass is a real recycling superhero. At Viridor we work hard to make sure as much glass as possible can be made into new bottles and jars and we need every household to join in to make that possible.”
Sharon Todd, Head of Marketing for Glass Europe at Ardagh Group said: “ We are proud to support this initiative for educating the next generation of consumers. Glass packaging is infinitely recyclable, which means it has endless lives, so the industry must ensure a steady stream of used glass comes back into the system for re-melt. Like all glass packaging manufacturers we are constantly trying to maximise the use of recycled glass to make new bottles and jars in order to reduce CO2 emissions. The current recycling rate of nearly 70% is good, but we can all use even more! ”
The National Schools Partnership exists to make life easier for educators, providing free inspirational learning materials all in one place. The Glass Guardians resources were produced with support from the Friends of Glass community.
The Glass Guardians packs are available via the National Schools Partnership website at https://nationalschoolspartnership.com/initiatives/glass-guardians-superinvestigators/.
Notes
British Glass helps the UK glass industry to have the influence, knowledge and skills to be world leading and globally competitive. It communicates the glass sector’s value and interests – as well as fostering collaboration and innovation – to secure a thriving, sustainable future for glass. Its membership includes companies from across the whole glass supply chain.
Friends of Glass is a pan-European community dedicated to promoting the right for consumers to be able to choose the food and drink products they love in glass packaging. Friends of Glass unites all those who believe glass is the clear choice for themselves, their families and for the environment. Friends of Glass UK is managed by British Glass Manufacturers’ Confederation. www.friendsofglass.co.uk
