Havant junior school signs up to recycling week which will encourage pupils to bring in old tech and educate them on importance of recycling

A SCHOOL has signed up to a scheme that will teach the pupils about how to safely dispose of electronic equipment.

Bosmere Junior School in Havant is taking part in a week-long initiative to encourage pupils to recycle old tech that they have lying around unused at home and educate them on why it is important.

From Monday, June 20, Hilsea-based electrical recycling company, Southern Electrical Recycling (SER) will install a box at the school, which the pupils, teachers, parents guardians will be encouraged to fill with old waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

They will fill the box with old mobile phones, tablets and laptops or items with a battery or plug, which the team at SER will collect at the end of the week, taking them back to the base in Highgrove Industrial Park for sorting.

The items will then be dismantled and destroyed or recycled into reusable assets via the on-site electrical repair workshop.

The school will then receive a receipt for the items received, with a full report of how it was disposed of.

Throughout the week, the school will also provide pupils with education around the importance recycling, particularly of tech, with SER’s mobile mascot, WEEE man, being kept at the school for the duration of the week, with informative and educational videos played out on the screen.

Bosmere is passionate about protecting the environment and educating its pupils on taking care of the planet themselves, and why it is important to do so.

It is currently on track to become an Eco-school.

Headteacher Caroline Fisk said: ‘We are really looking forward to working with SER to encourage children and their adults to search at home for any electrical appliances that no longer function and bring them into school to recycle. The industrious eco-club, comprising 36 children representing each year group, are going to initiate this idea as part of their 2021/2022 Action Plan to Reuse, Recycle and Reduce waste.

‘Bosmere has been positively overwhelmed by the support of pupils, staff and parents in our quest this year to become an Eco-school and it is thanks to the whole school community that we have been recently awarded our Green Flag with Distinction. This type of project only helps to highlight the alternatives in our local community to our ever-increasing landfill.’

The reason that co-owners Gary Dalton and David Edwards decided to introduce the scheme is due to the amount of materials they see go to landfill due to a lack of education.

David said: ‘If we educate children enough on why looking after the planet is important then the future generations will hopefully be more aware and conscious about the decisions they make when it comes to throwing things away. It’s their future that we’re doing it for, and signing up Bosmere to the scheme means even more to me on a personal level as my grandson is a pupil there.’