From Tubs2Classrooms at Brooklyn Heights Primary
The project has incorporated 80 schools located throughout Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape and aims to collect close to half a million tubs to be recycled and repurposed to build light weight bricks to construct two classrooms by the end of this year.
Danone NutriDay and their partners have come together to introduce an innovative and exciting way to recycle plastic. Brooklyn Heights Primary School was the first of 15 schools selected in KZN to be part of the Danone NutriDay Tubs2Classrooms project.
The project has incorporated 80 schools located throughout Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape and aims to collect close to half a million tubs to be recycled and repurposed to build light weight bricks to construct two classrooms by the end of this year.
Danone NutriDay started this successful project in 2021 when 19 tons of plastic from yoghurt containers were transformed into making sturdy school desks. NutriDay along with their partners Pick ‘n Pay and Interwaste are now embarking on their Tubs2Classrooms project from their One Desk, One Child Programme.
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The regional manager for Danone NutriDay in KZN, Mark Pather, said, “Danone takes responsibility for the plastic that is used by consumers. We want to make sure that it does not end up in nature or landfills, and at the same time, we want to encourage consumers to support recycling. Our six-pack yoghurts are fully recyclable but not collected and recycled effectively. This project serves the dual purpose of diverting plastic from landfill, while supplying schools with resources, like classrooms.”
The aim of the event at Brooklyn Heights Primary and all other schools, is to educate pupils about responsible plastic usage and recycling.
“The project also encourages children to wash and bring their used yoghurt tubs to school. In this way, the habit of recycling and creating a healthier planet becomes part of these young pupils’ lives” Pather elaborated.
NutriDay has added an incentive of R10, 000 for the school with the highest collection of yoghurt tubs in each region.
“Brooklyn Heights Primary was honoured with the presence of Danone, Interwaste and Pick ‘n Pay school club to launch the NutriDay competition. The pupils were excited to learn that their yoghurt tubs can be recycled to make bricks that would be used to build classrooms. The pupils and teachers are anxiously anticipating to win the competition for the school,” Mrs LN Mazibuko, who was one of the teachers at Brooklyn Heights Primary that co-ordinated the event.
Pather would like to extend his gratitude to their partners Pick ‘n Pay school club, Interwaste for managing the collection logistics and Mpact Plastic Containers for donating collection bins to all participating schools.
