SCOTTISH Borders Council (SBC) and Levenseat, the recycling and waste management business have joined forces to launch a new partnership initiative to educate primary school pupils across the region about the importance of waste reduction and recycling.

The ‘Learn with Levenseat’ programme enables young children to learn about recycling, sustainability, and eco-friendly practices while also promoting development of literacy, numeracy, and health and wellbeing.

The online educational tool has been developed as part of the residual waste treatment contract between the two organisations and aims to increase awareness amongst young people around the importance of recycling and provide them with the skills and knowledge that will allow them to recycle responsibly.

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A study of the waste habits of Borderers conducted last year by Scottish Borders Council revealed that on average over three quarters of items placed in household general waste bins could be recycled.

The new resource launched across schools earlier this year with an online lesson delivered by the Council’s award-winning Inspire Learning team and members of the Levenseat team.

Pupils took part in quizzes, logo creation and animation challenges, and were tasked to create a campaign aimed at enhancing recycling participation levels.

They were also given insights into the role of the waste and recycling industry and informed of potential careers opportunities within the growing sector.

The initiative will have an ongoing presence in the Scottish Borders and will be available to all schools in the region.

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Levenseat intends to continue developing this resource by incorporating information from other waste and recycling companies which provide services to Scottish Borders Council and adapt it for use in other local authorities across Scotland.

Levenseat Managing Director Angus Hamilton said: “We’re delighted to launch the ‘Learning with Levenseat’ programme in partnership with Scottish Borders Council promoting education about recycling, sustainability, and eco-friendly practices.

We’ve designed the programme especially for primary pupils with engaging but easy-to-use resources that encourage them to really think about the impact of waste and practical measures they can take in helping manage some of the challenges associated with it.”

Jenny Linehan, Executive Member for Environment & Transport at Scottish Borders Council said: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside Levenseat to launch this new online learning resource which is benefitting school children across the Borders region.

“This is an excellent educational initiative that engages young people on the subject of managing waste and starts a positive conversation around the importance of recycling, sustainability, and eco-friendly practices in everyday life.

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Through this young people will become more informed about the affect waste has on the world around them and develop a wide range of practical skills that are underpinned by the Curriculum for Excellence.

“Our recycling rate across the region has grown significantly in recent years thanks to developments in waste treatment processes, but we are motivated to increase that further and make the Scottish Borders statistically the best recyclers in Scotland.

Our work in schools to educate future generations plays a major part in that and this project is the perfect example of how we can engage with younger audiences around recycling.

There were two winners in the SBC/Levenseat schools waste and recycling competition where students were tasked with designing a waste & recycling campaign to help reduce waste and encourage recycling.

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The SBC/Levenseat competition saw schools from across the region take part in designing a waste & recycling campaign to help reduce waste and encourage recycling.

The winners were Isabelle Whitehouse, from Kingsland Primary School (pictured) and the Broomlands Primary School Eco Team.