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Schools in Essen compete to collect e-waste in new recycling initiative
Essen has launched the E-Waste Race project where schools compete to collect e-waste and pupils learn about recycling and its environmental effects.
Lord Mayor of Essen Thomas Kufen attended the launch of the project at the Gustav-Heinemann Comprehensive School, noting that eight schools are taking part.
Germany generates roughly 1.7 million tonnes of electronic waste per year, with city authorities stressing the importance of recycling such waste to recover valuable raw materials.
As part of the project, pupils will collect electronic waste in their neighbourhoods over four weeks and attend lectures and workshops on recycling and environmental protection.
Kufen pointed out that the most successful collectors of e-waste will win a school trip and added that the project will help young people to learn about circular economy.
“If you handle old devices with care and reprocess them in whole or in part, you are doing something for the environment,” he stressed and thanked everyone involved in the project for their commitment to sustainability.
City authorities reminded that the E-Waste Race was launched in the Netherlands in 2014, with more than 1,500 schools taking part since its launch.
Essen pointed out that e-waste is valuable because it contains many raw materials needed for the energy transition.
(Photo credit: Elke Brochhagen, Stadt Essen)