12 lucky Oxfordshire students have learnt about the importance of the message to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle through engaging workshops and an upcycling competition by industry partners, Fortis IBA and Viridor.
The companies joined forces to creatively bring the message of sustainable construction alive to Fritwell Primary School students. They were treated to a fun and interactive day, learning about the journey that non-recyclable waste makes from our homes to be transformed into electricity and how it can contribute to the material used to build roads.
Viridor’s Learning and Visitor Centre Manager, Jessica Baker-Pike, said: “We welcome the opportunity to partner with Fortis IBA, to demonstrate through educational school visits to Ardley ERF, the important message of “Right Stuff, Right Bin”.
“The workshops and competition were a really creative way to inspire young people to begin to think about their environment, and for us to show them how to maximise opportunities to recycle and then put non-recyclable waste to work, creating electricity, roads and many other end-of-waste products.”
The day ended the presentation of a £20 book voucher for the winner of an upcycling competition which had challenged the Fritwell Primary School eco buddies to create a sustainable construction model from anything that would otherwise be considered as rubbish over half term.
Fortis IBA Ltd Communications and Marketing Manager, Kerry Hayman, said: “It is encouraging to see students engaging and asking all the right questions around what happens to their non-recyclable waste.
“Fortis IBA take the ash generated from Ardley ERF and recycle it into FortiStone IBA Aggregate which is used in construction across the county. For every one tonne of the aggregate used, it diverts 400 bags of black bin waste from landfill! In addition to this, the use of IBA Aggregate within Oxfordshire’s construction industry preserves our natural resources. The UK now faces a limited availability of primary aggregates and there is a growing requirement for construction to be more sustainable.
We designed this competition to complement the workshop that we gave about IBA Aggregate, and to inspire the students to think broadly about reprocessing, recycling, and waste as a resource.”
The winning design, which was a fantastic creation of the Ardley ERF by student, Sam, was selected by Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Yvonne Constance.
Fritwell Primary School teacher, Zoe Rowe, said: “The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about how much can be recycled and reused. We’ve come away with lots of ideas to take back to the school and I will be recommending further visits.”
