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Glass recycling message spread through rap

Wednesday 2 July 2008, 7:20PM

By Trevor Mallard

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DUNEDIN

School children are teaming up with music star Che Fu to spread the word about recycling glass through rap, Environment Minister Trevor Mallard said today.

Trevor Mallard today congratulated Fairfield School of Dunedin and Fitzroy School in New Plymouth for winning a rap competition organised by the Glass Packaging Forum.

The competition required students to develop a rap that named the machine used to crush glass, explained why recycling is important and provided an example of how glass is being used in the area where they live.

The two teams, with members aged between nine and twelve, have recorded their raps with Che Fu at the York Street recording studio in Auckland, and today performed the final rap at an event at parliament where they received their awards.

"The Labour-led government believes New Zealand could be the first truly sustainable country, and to achieve this we need young New Zealanders to be vocal about recycling and the environment. I hope the rap music these students created will resonate with their peers.

"Recycling means products can be given a second life, and do not end up as rubbish. Our landfills will not fill up as fast, and we can save energy if we do not have to make new products.

"I'm looking forward to seeing similar initiatives to educate children on issues relating to the importance of recycling and the environment, and I applaud the Glass Packaging Forum for organising the competition and for involving Che Fu in this initiative. Famous since his days with Supergroove, Che Fu has been a great role model for the youth of New Zealand.”

The government is a signatory to the New Zealand Packaging Accord, which aims to improve the sustainability of packaging. Glass recycling is one of the areas the accord focuses on. The most recent figures show 53 per cent of glass is recycled.

The government is also working to establish 600 recycling bins for glass, plastic and aluminium bottles in busy urban areas and tourist hot spots to improve recycling behaviour when people are away from home.

 

 

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More info on the Glass Packaging Forum glass rap:

www.glassforum.org.nz/classrap_whats_next.html