Dungannon Primary School pupil Darragh Quinn was crowned 2018 Eco Speak champion in a debating competition organised by Mid Ulster District Council and sponsored by Re-Gen Waste Ltd, based in Newry.

Primary Six and Seven children from schools across Mid Ulster were invited to participate in the third annual Mid Ulster Eco Speak 2018 competition, on Tuesday 17th April 2018 at The Burnavon, Cookstown.

The competition helps raise awareness of environmental issues in schools, gives young people the opportunity to research environmental issues such as waste recycling, biodiversity and energy usage, as well as to present their views and to develop their confidence and skills in public speaking.

Entrants were asked to present their thoughts and opinions on why using the blue bin to recycle makes a difference. Darragh demonstrated most proficiently how he would persuade non-recyclers that recycling is worthwhile and how we all could be encouraged to recycle more. Runners up included Niamh Higgins, St. Marys PS Glenview, Maghera, Gabrielle Mischook, Bush PS and Hannah Moore, Aughnacloy PS.

Commenting on the competition, Joseph Doherty, Managing Director of Re-Gen Waste Ltd said: We were delighted to sponsor this really worthwhile initiative run by Mid Ulster Council and congratulate Darragh on his most deserved win. “As a one of Europe’s most advanced materials recovery facility (MRF) installations, we are at the coal-face of recycling and we see every day how ordinary householders are discarding their waste.
“Most recycling research, tells us that difficulty and convenience are the most significant factors in determining participation by householders. Ultimately the recycling service has to be both convenient and efficient in order for them to participate.

“We join Mid Ulster District Council in encouraging local residents to recycle the maximum resources in their households. We have found that household friendly schemes such as co-mingling recyclables (card, paper, plastic, food tins, drink cans and glass) in blue bins, are more preferable to residents than pre-sort schemes and that working with advanced MRF’s like Re-Gen, is actively improving recycling rates. We know what materials can be recycled and what can’t, who will take the waste and if we can get a second use from them.

“The BBC’s Blue Planet has done so much to raise awareness of the damage we are doing to our environment by not recycling properly and we are heartened to see so many school children in Northern Ireland beginning to challenge how adults are looking after our environment and dealing with waste.”