Local school children singing recycling Christmas song in partnership with Biffa and Wakefield Council

Biffa and Wakefield Council partner with local school children on Christmas recycling song

12 Dec 2024

5 mins

“Recycling Christmas” song promotes recycling and sustainability during this festive season.

Industry News

Municipal

Wakefield Council, in partnership with Biffa, the UK leader in sustainable waste management, and local school children, has created a Christmas song to promote recycling and sustainability during the festive season. This unique project, spearheaded by the Biffa Education Team for the Wakefield Project, aims to engage and educate the community about how they can have a green Christmas by reducing waste and recycling more. Check out the video below!

Local creative Johnny Carr, from JC Image & Film Co Ltd., led the project, collaborating with WMP Studios and students from Kettlethorpe High School. The original song, “Recycling Christmas”, was written by Johnny, with arrangement & production by Ben McAvoy of WMP Studios. The song highlights the importance of reducing waste, reusing, and recycling, all wrapped up in a festive theme. Key messages include reusing Christmas jumpers, taking trees to recycling centres, and performing the scrunch test on wrapping paper to identify if it can be recycled.

On Friday, November 8, six students from Kettlethorpe High School (three from Year 9 and three from Year 11) visited TileYard North studios to record the song and film the accompanying video. The recording session also featured a flute solo by student Emily M, adding a special touch to the project.

This initiative not only promotes sustainability but also provides the participating students with valuable experience in a professional recording studio, enhancing their portfolios as they pursue careers in the music industry.

Drew Pearson, Contract Director of Biffa, Wakefield, said: "This collaboration has been a fantastic opportunity to engage with the community and highlight the importance of recycling in a fun and creative way. We hope this song will inspire the students at Kettlethorpe High School and the wider community to change the way they think about waste this Christmas. By making a few changes, we can reduce waste and recycle more during the festive season and beyond."

Johnny Carr added: "Working with the students and seeing their excitement and creativity has been incredibly rewarding. This project showcases the power of music to bring people together and promote positive change."

Cllr Jack Hemingway, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “We’re really pleased to see our young people getting involved to spread this important message. There are plenty of ways to sort out unwanted items for recycling or reuse, and we can all reduce the amount of waste we generate by making small changes. “We hope that this song will help people to increase how much they recycle, especially those items that we see more of over the Christmas period, because it really does make a difference.”