Puppet Busta calls on Swansea primary pupils to join food waste recycling mission for the chance to have their poster seen throughout the city.
Swansea school children have the chance to design a poster to appear on Swansea Council’s recycling trucks – thanks to an intergalactic space monkey called Busta. The recycling mascot is embarking on an important mission to investigate how Swansea’s recycled food waste is transformed into electricity, and he’s inviting primary school pupils to join him.
Delivered by Recycle for Wales, in partnership with Swansea Council, Wastebuster and Eco-Schools, The Swansea Food Recycling Mission aims to get all Swansea’s Key Stage 2 students to learn how the city’s recycled food waste is treated at an anaerobic digestion plant in Bridgend to create electricity to power Swansea’s homes, schools and tourist attractions. Busta launched the mission by visiting several of these attractions to take holiday snaps.
Teachers are being invited to go online to download a pack which includes curriculum-linked activities and lesson ideas, and there’s a homework activity as well as the competition for kids. The whole family can also take part in recording their ‘unavoidable food waste’ (food that can’t be eaten but can be recycled such as banana peels and tea bags) in a food diary and discover how much energy could be produced using ‘The Electrogenerator’ – a fun online energy calculator – on the Mission’s website.
Swansea residents are already great recyclers – 72% recycle their food waste, and last year alone they recycled enough food to power a whole school for six years. A recent survey carried out in the area revealed that most residents recycle their food waste to do their bit for the community and the environment.
When it comes to recycling, Wales’ residents are leading the way with a national recycling rate of 64%, which is the highest in the UK and 3rd in the world.
Busta’s being joined on his mission by Recycle for Wales Campaign Manager Angela Spiteri, who said: “I want to get as many Swansea children to join Captain Busta on this important mission and be in with a chance to win an out of this world prize. I also hope Swansea parents, guardians and teachers follow Busta’s advice and use their food caddy to dispose of unavoidable food waste to help create more renewable energy for Swansea.”
Mark Thomas, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment Services, said:
“The benefit of this latest campaign is we can get children, at a young age, to understand the benefits of food recycling and ensure that as they get older, they see this as normal practice when it comes to disposing of household waste.
“Many residents are also doing a fantastic job and are recycling their food waste. Hopefully the campaign will ensure the next generation of Swansea residents will continue our efforts to recycle as much as we can and meet government recycling targets.”
To get involved or view Busta’s Swansea holiday snaps visit https://foodrecyclingmission.org.uk/swansea/
