
As part of a new campaign, Year 5 and 6 pupils from five schools across the borough of Caerphilly in Wales put their creative skills to use to design their own recycling ‘heroes and villains’.
Over the autumn months, Caerphilly County Borough Council teamed up with local artist, Jason Hicks, and its team of Recycling Advisors to deliver exciting educational sessions in schools on waste and recycling.
It’s part of our strategy to engage with our younger residents to teach them about recycling correctly…
The campaign aims to support Caerphilly’s mission to educate our youngest residents on the importance of recycling now and in the future, as well as contributing to Welsh Government’s goal of becoming a zero-waste nation by 2050.
Pupils from Ysgol Gymraeg Caerffili, Ysgol Bro Allta, Park Primary School, Bryn Primary School, and Crumlin High Level Primary School participated in the workshops run by the artist and Recycling Advisors, and took the opportunity to design their own recycling hero and villain characters after learning about recycling and correct waste disposal.
The council is now asking residents to vote for your favourite hero and villain, with the top voted designs then being used on 2 art sculptures that will tour the 5 principal town centres during 2025.
As well as the development of the 2 sculptures, those who participated in the workshops will receive a ‘Top Trumps’ style pack of cards featuring all 36 character designs from each school as a keepsake of their hard work and to be able to play with their friends.
Cllr Chris Morgan, Cabinet Member for Waste, Leisure, and Green Spaces, tells FM Magazine: “It’s part of our strategy to engage with our younger residents to teach them about recycling correctly, this exciting artwork development project allows us to do so in a fun and interactive way.
“The final art sculptures will also aim to inform our other residents and the wider community the importance of recycling and the negative impacts that contamination has on the environment.”
To vote for your favourite characters and to find out more information on The Recycling Showdown, visit https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/the-recycling-showdown.