J&B News & Updates

19.01.23

J&B Recycling were delighted to be invited to deliver a workshop about recycling to pupils from 14 schools from across the Tees Valley as part of an inspirational event with the Power Of Women.

Power Of Women does great work across the region as they provide young people with role models, inspiration, resources and information to take control over the choices they make and demonstrate the wealth of opportunities open to them within the Tees Valley.

Ingrid from our marketing team led the session. After giving a brief overview of why recycling is so important for our planet, Ingrid led a workshop where children (and teachers) had to separate products commonly found in the home into items they would put in their recycling bin at home, and items that they didn't think could be recycled in their kerbside recycling bin.

All of the children did an amazing job! A few items caught them out, but overall they were all excellent! Where the items did catch them out, Ingrid was incredibly impressed with their questions. She says: "All of the children had a really good understanding of recycling, but what impressed me most was the questions and responses to discussions that they came up with. They showed such curiosity and a level of intelligence that was very impressive".

Here are some of the things that impressed her most...

One group had added an orange to their recycling pile. Ingrid explained that oranges can't be recycled in your kerbside recycling bin at home. One of the children responded "but it can be composted". It sparked an excellent discussion about composting and highlighted that only a few children were able to compost at home. 

Quite a few children had been caught out with one piece of packaging that they all thought could be recycled. When Ingrid informed them that it couldn't be recycled, lots of hands went up and they all shouted out "but it says on the back that it CAN be recycled". Ingrid had a look and it highlighted another excellent issue! The symbol wasn't a recycling symbol, it was the ASTM International Resin Identification Code. This simply identifies what type of plastic the item is made from. It doesn't signal that the material can be recycled in your recycling bin at home.

Ingrid gave the teachers quite a difficult bag to sort through, but overall they did very well - and looked very relieved!!

The event took place at GB Bank in Middlesbrough. GB Bank are a community-focused bank utilising regional knowledge and passion to regenerate and build communities in areas that need it the most. They provide property development loans of between £26,000 – £5 million, supporting regional property developers, SMEs, and construction companies across the underserved regions of the UK.

Thank you Claire Preston & Nieve Morrison from the Power Of Women for giving us the opportunity to take part in this fantastic event. And to GB Bank for hosting such a great day!

J&B Recycling provide waste management and recycling services across the North East of England. We love to engage with schools from across the region, so if you are interested in us delivering a workshop for students, or in taking part in a FREE tour of our award-winning Material Recycling Facility in Hartlepool, please don't hesitate to contact us.