Abu Dhabi school urged to recycle single-use plastic bottles, win AED12,000 worth of prizes – News

The winner of the challenge will be selected based on the highest number of bottles collected

Ten thousand

The Abu Dhabi-based environmental watchdog has launched an initiative to encourage students to foster a culture of single-use plastic bottle recycling.

Under the theme “Pile it Up”, the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency (EAD) challenged schools in the emirate to collect and return single-use plastic water bottles within two months, with all collected waste sent to recycling.

The ‘Pile it Up’ challenge is part of EAD’s vision to achieve a single-use plastic-free Abu Dhabi.

“Today’s younger generations are increasingly ecologically conscious and can play an important role in encouraging peers and families to actually protect the environment, which is at the heart of EAD’s mission. We want to use their concerns to show them that we are serious , and gain their support for our Mission Zero campaign against single-use products,” said Ahmed Baharoon, Executive Director of Environmental Information, EAD’s Science Outreach Administration.

EAD is working closely with UAE schools to successfully complete the challenge.

“We chose the ‘Pile it Up’ challenge as a tool to encourage younger generations to take an active role in fostering a culture of recycling single-use plastic bottles. We launched a dedicated awareness campaign to guide students through EAD’s single-use plastic policy, thereby Prepare schools for the challenge. To ensure they work hard and to help them build a competitive advantage in the challenge, we are confident that several students will come forward and strive to recycle as many single-use plastic bottles as possible and switch to multipurpose plastics bottle products and lead a more sustainable lifestyle. The key is that the students strive to recycle as many bottles as possible, not just collect them.”

The challenge will run until November 22, with the grand prize of Dh12,000, the runner-up will receive Dh10,000 and the third runner-up will receive Dh8,000. In total, seven recipients received cash awards, and the schools that received the cash awards were required to allocate funds to the school’s sustainable environment programs.

The winner is based on the number of bottles collected and most importantly, recycled. The top seven schools will be featured on EAD social media channels, and all schools will receive a certificate.

“By offering cash awards to several winners, students are appreciated and recognized for their hard work,” added Baharoon.