Battery Recycling Challenge - at school

Competition Winners

2023-2024 Schools Battery Recycling Competition Winners

Thank you to everyone who took part in the 2023/2024 WEEE Ireland Schools Battery Recycling Competition!

We are pleased to announce our 2023-2024 Schools Battery Recycling Competition Winners! A huge well done and congratulations to all our winning schools and pupils. See below for their tips on becoming a battery recycling champion and competition winner.

And remember there are 6 more €2,000 sports vouchers to win in this new 2024/2025 year of the competition! So get your blue battery boxes and start collecting today to help protect our planet, support LauraLynn and be in with a chance to win!

 

PRIMARY SCHOOL WINNERS 2023-2024
Small Primary School Winner (Less than 100 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Kilteevan National School Kilteevan, Co. Roscommon

Kilteevan National School recycled the equivalent of 22,650 batteries!

 

Did you involve anybody outside of the school to help collect batteries for the school?

“Yes. Our teachers put posts on our school’s Facebook page to tell our local community that we were taking part in the competition. Our parents told their work friends and asked them to help us to collect lots of batteries. The local Tidy Towns committee and the local Community Development Group helped us to spread the word to the local community by sending out text messages, sharing our Facebook posts and asking their members and friends to collect batteries for us. Our community postman even offered to collect donations of batteries at the houses in the area and drop them to us. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped us!”
Medium Primary School Winner (100 – 499 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Roundwood National School Roundwood, Co. Wicklow

Roundwood National School recycled the equivalent of 95,000 batteries!

 

What did your school do to get everyone involved in recycling batteries?

“Roundwood National School fully engaged their community to collect as many batteries as possible. They posted on social media to let the town know they were collecting for the competition, and put a notice in local papers to spread their message across Roundwood.They also teamed up with their local hardware store who helped collect batteries at their store. Parents were bringing in bag fulls of batteries and everyone got really involved.”

 
Large Primary School Winner (More than 500 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023St Lorcan’s Boys National School, Palmerstown, Co. Dublin

St Lorcan’s Boys National School recycled the equivalent of 22,100 batteries!

 

What have you learnt from your battery drive? 

“We learnt it was a good idea to recycle batteries as if they go to landfill they can be really harmful for the environment. We also learnt a lot about teamwork.”

Why do you think recycling batteries is important? 

“We think it’s important to recycle batteries because it helps reduce pollution and helps reduce the amount in landfills. We think it is important everyone helps to improve our environment.”

 

SECONDARY SCHOOL WINNERS
Small Secondary School Winner (Less than 300 students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023St Mary’s College, Co. Sligo

Mary’s College recycled the equivalent of 79,350 batteries!

 

Did you involve anybody outside of the school to help collect batteries for the school?

“The whole school community got involved because we used our social media to reach out. It was brilliant, even people who didn’t have kids in the school got involved because they saw it online. The community response was unreal! So many people got involved and it created a great sense of community for everyone in the school and surrounding areas.”

What are your best tips for collecting the most amount of batteries? 

“Involve the community and make it fun! It’s amazing what a bit of competition does! “
Medium Secondary School Winner (Between 300 – 599 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Sligo Grammar School, Co. Sligo

Sligo Grammar School recycled the equivalent of 16,150 batteries!

 

What did your school do to get everyone involved in recycling batteries?

“We ran an in-house competition to see who could collect the most batteries, we offered a prize of €50. We also visited classrooms to speak to students and we made lots of posters for the school.”

What have you learnt from your battery drive?

“I have improved my confidence talking to my peers about environmental issues.“

How will you make sure you, your friends and family will remember to recycle your batteries?

“By reminding them and placing a blue box in a visible location, batteries can then be brought to school or to a local supermarket.”
Large Secondary School Winner (More than 600 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Ursuline College Sligo, Co. Sligo

Ursuline College Sligo recycled the equivalent of 16,450 batteries!

 

Why did your school want to get involved in the Battery Recycling Challenge?

“We got involved as a CSPE project initially. We were learning about the environment and being active citizens.”

What has been your favourite part about collecting and recycling batteries?

“We made a class mascot Bianca battery a very glamorous giant battery girl. She also had a handsome companion Bailey AAA. We also made battery people with pipe cleaners and googly eyes and took shots of them around the school and turned it into a TikTok. It was posted on our social media and encouraged everyone to bring in batteries.”

PRIMARY SCHOOL WINNERS 2022-2023
Small Primary School Winner (Less than 100 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023St Catherines National School, Aughrim, Co. Galway

St Catherines National School recycled the equivalent of 89,500 batteries!

Why do you think recycling batteries is important? 

“It is so important to recycles batteries so that lakes and rivers are not polluted and wildlife are not affected.  Also, batteries contain raw materials like iron, nickel and cobalt that can be used again if batteries are recycled properly. We also think it is important as every battery collected goes towards a donation to  LauraLynn which is a great cause.”

Was there anywhere you got batteries from that you didn’t know had batteries in it? 

“We got used batteries from all the usual appliances and toys and also from drones, phones, torches and car keys.”
Medium Primary School Winner (100 – 499 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Scoil Mochaomhóg Naofa, Borris, Co. Tipperary

Scoil Mochaomhóg Naofa recycled the equivalent of 40,500 batteries!

 

 

What are your best tips for collecting the most amounts of batteries?

“Asking grandparents, aunts and other family members to bring to school and from old toys.”

Was there anywhere you got batteries from that you didn’t know had batteries in it?

“Christmas lights, xbox controller, barbie house, smoke alarm and radios.”
Large Primary School Winner (More than 500 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Scoil Naomh Pádraig, Ballyroan, Co. Dublin

Scoil Naomh Pádraig recycled the equivalent of 20,600 batteries!

 

Why did your school decide to enter the competition?

“We signed up because we saw it on News2Day and we thought it looked really fun. We are a Green Schools so we know how important recycling is so we decided to give it a go!”

How did your school get everyone involved in recycling batteries?

“We stuck up posters around the school, and me and my friends talked at our school assembly. We let all the parents know, and then all the batteries started to arrive in our classroom.”

 

SECONDARY SCHOOL WINNERS
Small Secondary School Winner (Less than 300 students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School, Belmayne, County Dublin

Belmayne Educate Together Secondary School recycled the equivalent of 32,650 batteries!

 

What did your school do to start recycling batteries?

“We did an active week about waste and litter. We made a presentation for all tutor groups to look at and complete activities each morning. We also spoke at the whole school assembly on Friday.”

What are your best tips for collecting the most amount of batteries? 

“Having the blue boxes easily available for people and to remind them about it regularly.”
Medium Secondary School Winner (Between 300 – 599 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Ramsgrange Community School, Ramsgrange, Co. Wexford

Ramsgrange Community School recycled the equivalent of 82,200 batteries!

 

What have you learnt from your battery drive?

“That binning batteries is not good for the environment because the batteries contain harmful chemicals that can seep into the ground, damaging plants and animals if not disposed of correctly.”

How did your school get everyone involved in collecting batteries? 

“We created a battery collection point in the front hall of our school, and we had a competition among year groups as to what year could collect the most batteries, and the winning year got a prize.”
Large Secondary School Winner (More than 600 Students)

WEEE Schools Winners 2023Kilkenny College, Seixeslough, Co. Kilkenny

Kilkenny College recycled the equivalent of 160,300 batteries!

 

How would you explain to your friends how important it is to recycle batteries?

“It’s smart and the right thing to do. It’s easy – just do the right thing.” 

What has been your favourite part about collecting and recycling batteries? 

“The competitive aspect, the sense of community, raising awareness for recycling and sustainability, helping to raise funds for the Laura Lynn charity.”