WEEE Ireland Schools Battery Recycling Competition is back

Irish students saved the equivalent of 1.5 million AA batteries from landfill last school year – the weight of close to four school buses – as part of the WEEE Ireland Schools Battery Recycling Competition.

One of the stand-out contributors was Cloonfour National School in Roscommon, which despite having just 40 pupils, collected nearly 2,000 AA batteries each – proving that even the smallest schools can make a massive impact.

This year’s competition launches as a new EU regulation for batteries come’s into full effect, bringing higher waste battery collection, recycling and recovery targets.

WEEE Ireland is calling on schools, families, and communities nationwide to get involved and help Ireland meet these ambitious goals – while supporting environmental protection and the programmes charity partner LauraLynn Ireland’s Children’s Hospice.

The competition is open to all primary and secondary schools in WEEE Ireland’s battery recycling counties that collect at least 10 full 5kg battery boxes.

“The new EU Batteries Regulation raises the bar for all of us, and schools across Ireland are proving they are ready to meet that challenge,” said Elizabeth O’Reilly, head of environmental compliance at WEEE Ireland.

“The incredible efforts of students, teachers, families and local communities will help ensure we meet the minimum recovery targets for materials like cobalt, copper, lead, lithium, and nickel. This ensures these materials are recaptured for use again in manufacturing, as part of a more sustainable and circular battery economy.

“Every year we see how collective action can achieve real results – and even the smallest schools, like Cloonfour National School, can make an outsized contribution.”

Winning schools from the last school year hailed from Galway, Carlow, Roscommon, Waterford and Donegal with each school awarded a €2,000 sports voucher for their efforts.