City of York Council and Alupro launches festive-themed aluminium foil recycling competition

In a move to encourage school students towards recycling, the City of York Council, in collaboration with Alupro, launched a festive-themed competition for primary school students. With the council now able to collect aluminium foil at the kerbside, the project seeks to improve public awareness of the value of recycling, particularly during the holiday season when package quantities rise.

Children were asked to draw a festive A4 poster using old (but clean) aluminium foil. The best design will get a £50 cash reward, and their school will get vouchers worth £500 for eco-friendly materials and projects. The competition started on November 28 and will continue till December 31.

“At Christmas, aluminium foil can be found all around your home. From mince pie and roasting trays, to foil wrappers and even the lids on cream pots, just give them a quick wipe or rinse and they’re ready to be recycled! We’re delighted to be partnering with City of York Council for this competition and can’t wait to see all the creative posters submitted from budding artists across the region. From experience, initiatives like this help to improve resident engagement and improve recycling rates, so we’re expecting hugely positive results,” said Tom Giddings, executive director at Alupro.

Tom Giddings added, “The great thing about aluminium is that it’s infinitely recyclable – you can melt it down and reform it to create new products or packaging materials time and time again. This is the message that we want children to be shouting from the rooftops… using it as an art material really shows its versatility!”

“It’s wonderful to see local schoolchildren being given the chance to learn more about recycling this Christmas. Our long-term vision is to create a cleaner, greener city and this competition to raise awareness of what can be recycled at the kerbside is just the latest step in our work to expand and improve recycling and waste services across York,” said City of York Council’s Executive Member for Climate Change, Councillor Paula Widdowson.