Keep America Beautiful Recognized 2016 Recycle-Bowl Champion

Bon Air Elementary School of Kokomo, Ind., was crowned today as the national champion of Keep America Beautiful’s Recycle-Bowl, the national recycling competition for elementary-, middle- and high-school students, teachers and school communities.

Competing against nearly 1,300 schools spanning 47 states and the District of Columbia, Bon Air Elementary students recycled 48.7 pounds of materials per student and teacher during the competition. The kindergarten through fifth grade school is being awarded a recycled content plastic park bench, courtesy of Trex, and $1,000 worth of recycling bins from Busch Systems. The Recycle-Bowl competition took place over four weeks in the fall, culminating on America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, 2016.

“We are so proud of Bon Air Elementary for exemplifying the mission of Recycle-Bowl,” Brenda Pulley, senior vice president/recycling, Keep America Beautiful, said in a statement. “It’s encouraging to see students of all age groups and from all parts of the country get so excited about recycling both at school and at home. Congratulations to Bon Air Elementary and all of our Recycle-Bowl statewide winners.”

More than 700,000 students and teachers participated in Recycle-Bowl, striving to recycle as much as possible. Recyclables recovered during the 2016 competition totaled 2.2 million pounds, which prevented the release of 3,150 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E). This reduction in greenhouse gases is equivalent to the annual emissions from 655 passenger cars.

“Kokomo School Corporation officials from the Bon Air Technology Academies are delighted to be selected for awards at both the state and national levels in the Keep America Beautiful recycling competition,” Lyndsi Smith, assistant principal, Technology Academy at Bon Air Elementary, said in a statement. “Bon Air schools and our community are committed to help protect our environment and participating in the Keep America Beautiful program is another way our students, staff, and families can make a difference. Thank you, Keep America Beautiful, for allowing the Bon Air schools community to help the world!”

Other 2016 national category winners are:

The Children’s School will receive $1,500 worth of recycling bins from Busch Systems for demonstrating the most improvement in its recycling per capita rate from 2015 to 2016. The George W. Whitlow Elementary School, which won the Waste Reduction category for being the school that creates the least waste (recycling and trash) per person, will receive $500 worth of recycling bins from Busch Systems.