Prize-giving ceremony for the fourth edition of the school awards “Les piles, a l’Apilo de l’escola”

• Organised by the Waste Agency of Catalonia, The European Recycling Platform (ERP) as well as the Systems of Extended Producer Responsibility (SCRAP)

The general director of ERP, Matias Rodrigues, has participated in the prize-giving ceremony for the fourth edition of the Les piles, a l'Apilo de l'escola competition, organised by the Department of Territory and Sustainability of the Generalitat of Catalonia, through the Waste Agency of Catalonia, and the Systems of Extended Producer Responsibility (SCRAP) for batteries and accumulators ERP Spain, Ecopilas, Unibat and Ecolec.

Under the framework of the awareness campaign Apilo XII: Les piles, al planeta Reciclatge, during this fourth edition of the school collection contest, the 919 participating schools have together collected a total of 56,063kg of batteries and accumulators. Participation in these awards was open to all schools in Catalonia, whether they were private, public or state-funded private schools, with the only condition being that they were previously registered to take part in the contest on the website.

The four awarded prizes have a total cash prize value of 7,500 euros - which can only be used to buy school or sports equipment, or for educational activities.

The Mare de Deu de Montserrat de L'Albages school in Lleida has won the prize for the school that collected the most batteries and accumulators throughout the campaign. They have won 2,500 euros, with a total volume collected of 2,445kg, which is equivalent to a weight collected per student of 163kg.

The prize going to the school which has collected the most portable batteries and accumulators per student, also winning 2,500 euros, has gone to the ELS SET FOCS school in Bellaguarda (Lleida), which equivalent to a total of 105.60kg per student. The second place in this ranking goes to the Guardería Municipal de Tivenys (municipal nursery) in Tarragona, where 93.78kg of batteries per student has earned them 1,500 euros; while third place went to the Divina Pastora de Tortosa school in Tarragona, with an equvalent weight of 53.38kg of batteries collected per student, earning them a cash prize of 1,000 euros.

The awards ceremony was held in the context of an environmental recreational day, held at Lake Ivars i Vila-Sana, a protected natural area in the Lleida municipality of Ivars d'Urgell. Throughout the morning, the winning schoolchildren were able to enjoy a walk around the lake where they learned about the history of the old lake, its draining, and the restoration work which created the lake as it is today. The day concluded with the awards ceremony at Cal Sinén, the wetland’s interpretation center.