Hon Amy Adams
Minister for the Environment
3 September 2013
Enviroschools TV TakeBack challenge launched
Environment Minister Amy Adams has today launched a competition for Enviroschools that aims to raise awareness among
school students and their communities of the need to recycle unwanted televisions.
The Enviroschools Challenge is a joint initiative organised by the Ministry for the Environment and the Enviroschools
Foundation, as part of the TV TakeBack programme.
When students take an unwanted television to a participating drop-off site, they can nominate an Enviroschool of their
choice.
The Enviroschool with the best participation rate will win a technology package, while all nominated schools will also
go into the draw to win further prizes.
The Enviroschools Challenge starts today in the lower North Island and East Cape, and will be extended to the upper
North Island later this year.
“Children are the environmental leaders of the future so I am looking forward to seeing them take up this challenge,” Ms
Adams says.
“Old televisions are a difficult recycling challenge, but through people thinking about the environment, we can stop
thousands of tonnes of harmful material going to landfill.”
The TV TakeBack scheme makes recycling a television affordable and straightforward. Through a Government subsidy, the
cost to the public to recycle a television is no more than $5.
The scheme has been running since October last year, with more than 111,000 televisions collected for recycling.
Enviroschools is an education programme that gives schools and children a hands-on approach to looking after the
environment.
The programme encourages children, their schools and their families to think and act sustainably – at school, at home
and in everyday life.
Last year, the Government gave the programme a $7.6 million funding boost.
“The Government is committed to improving and maintaining the quality of our environment and this funding provides a
valuable contribution towards the support of the Enviroschools programme.”
ENDS