Cable Challenge gets pupils connecting with recycling

Thirty-four primary and secondary schools are taking part in the council's free Cable Challenge which launched on Monday 10 February, where they will compete to see who can recycle the most cables in a month. 

Each school has been given a recycling bin, and children will be encouraged to search their homes for old and unwanted cables and, with their parents' or carer's permission, bring them to school and drop them into the dedicated bin. 

The winning school will be determined by how many kilograms of cables they've collected by 14 March and receive £100 towards purchasing teaching materials for the classroom to help them learn more about repairing and reusing items, rather than throwing them away. 

Millions of old cables are binned each year, but many contain precious metals such as copper, which can be extracted and recycled into other things. 

Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, said: "Modern technology often relies on cables that can stop working or get replaced and so many end up forgotten about in drawers or cupboards. 

"We're encouraging children to find and recycle as many old cables as possible from their homes, while learning about the valuable materials they contain and the importance of reusing them. 

"In turn, this helps to improve the council's overall recycling rates and so I wish the schools the best of luck and look forward to seeing who comes out on top next month." 

The challenge has been funded by not-for-profit organisation Material Focus, which also supports the council's continued drive to recycle small electricals.

The council also has pink recycling bins for small electricals in each of its libraries, for residents to drop off items like cables, old phones and hairdryers, or you can visit one of our Civic Amenity Sites in Harefield or West Drayton. 

Find out more about recycling e-waste and small electricals at www.hillingdon.gov.uk/small-electricals-recycling