City of York Council has partnered with Alupro to launch a festive-themed competition for primary school pupils. With the council now able to collect aluminium foil at the kerbside, the initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of recycling – especially at Christmas, when packaging volumes increase.

Challenging children to create a festive A4 poster design incorporating used (but washed) aluminium foil, eager entrants can sign up to participate through their school. The winning design will take home a £50 cash prize, while their school will receive £500 in vouchers to spend on sustainable supplies and activities.

With the competition launching on 28 November and closing on 31 January, there’s plenty of time to create your Christmas masterpiece. The winning design will be announced in February and displayed for all to see on the council’s website.

Tom Giddings, executive director at Alupro, commented: “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.

“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!”

City of York Council’s Executive Member for Climate Change, Councillor Paula Widdowson added: “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.

“We know residents are doing a fantastic job of recycling in York, with around 43 per cent of all waste being either reused, recycled or composted. The addition of foil to kerbside collections will help us further boost our recycling rates.”

For more information about recycling foil at the kerbside and recent changes to waste services across York, visit: www.york.gov.uk/recycling.

ENDS