Danish school students recycle to party!

In Denmark, only about half of all used batteries are collected and recycled, so European Recycling Platform (ERP) decided to do something about this. Teaming up with the popular YouTubers, Mika and Tobias, as well as teachers and school students from all across the country, ERP Denmark launched a competition for schools to collect the most used batteries.

Under the heading “Become Recycling Friends with Mika and Tobias”, students from 124 schools took part in the competition which began on 1^st March 2020. Despite the closure of schools in the middle of the campaign due to Covid-19, the results are impressive: students collected a total of 47 tonnes of used batteries for recycling. The three regional winners – the schools in Jutland, Funen and Zealand that collected the most kilograms of batteries per student – will host a special concert with Mika and Tobias.

“We knew we had to do something special to get the country’s school pupils interested in recycling batteries,” says Torben Frahm, general manager of ERP Denmark. “That’s why we chose to make recycling a party for the students by giving them the opportunity to win a concert with Mika and Tobias – who are very popular with this age group.”

Mika and Tobias composed the song “Genanvenner” (Recycling Friends) for the campaign, which they launched with a video greeting. The music video now has more than 220,000 views on YouTube and the support of the two YouTube stars has proved very effective.

“We were delighted that so many schools chose to support the project, but it has been even better to see how much effort the students and teachers put into collecting batteries. The feedback is students have really learned something and this has helped teachers educate them about recycling and sustainability. It makes us proud – this is what our entire company is about.”

But the big winner is the environment. With the efforts of students and teachers, Denmark will take a major step towards the European goal of collecting 65% of used batteries within 10 years. And, with a whole generation of “Recycling Friends”, the future looks green.