Great Rollright pupils are recycling stars after a litter pick

Cllr Norman MacRae, Cabinet Member for the Environment, went to visit them last Friday to hear about their class litter pick earlier in the week and conduct a special assembly about recycling.

He congratulated the children on collecting over 600 items of litter in just 45 minutes and answered their questions about what happens to their rubbish after it leaves the kerbside.

The children learnt where all their rubbish, recycling and food waste goes by watching videos explaining the processes that happen at the Energy Recovery Facility in Ardley and the anaerobic digesting plant in Cassington. Then they had the chance to test their knowledge with a game to sort out what they had collected on their litter pick.

Cllr MacRae said “I was delighted to hear about the children’s efforts and thank them in person for their litter picking. It was particularly encouraging to see some of the youngest in our community taking on board the need for climate action. Whilst we’re proud of West Oxfordshire’s high recycling rates we can always do better and it was a pleasure to help teach the younger generation about how we can all play a part”.

The school has set up their own eco club as well as food waste caddies for children’s lunch leftovers and crisp packet, battery and stamp recycling collection boxes.

Sophie Bartlett, the year five and six teacher said: “It was a delight to have Norman visit our class on Friday. He was great with the children and his session really complemented our learning about deforestation, plastic pollution and recycling. We learnt a lot about how our local area deals with our waste and it has inspired us to reuse and recycle as much as we can.”