Circular Economy Circular Economy

Colgate, TerraCycle Expand Annual Recycled Playground Challenge

In their biggest contest yet, TerraCycle, Colgate and ShopRite’s annual partnership is offering students across the eastern US the chance to win a playground for their school made entirely of recycled materials. It is the fifth edition of the Recycled Playground Challenge, which aims to teach school students, teachers and communities about preserving healthy smiles and a healthy environment.

By Sustainable Brands | Published 8 years ago | About a 2 minute read

In their biggest contest yet, TerraCycle, Colgate and ShopRite’s annual partnership is offering students across the eastern US the chance to win a playground for their school made entirely of recycled materials. It is the fifth edition of the Recycled Playground Challenge, which aims to teach school students, teachers and communities about preserving healthy smiles and a healthy environment.

Schools can earn points towards winning the grand prize playground by sending oral care waste, such as empty toothpaste tubes and floss containers, to TerraCycle for recycling and encouraging their community to vote online. One (1) ‘Playground Credit’ will be awarded for each 0.2lb ‘unit’ of used, post-consumer oral care products and packaging. Community members may vote once per day for a school of their choice, with each vote counting as an additional Playground Credit.

The materials are collected through TerraCycle’s Colgate® Oral Care Recycling Program, a free national program hosted by the two companies. The program is an ongoing activity open to any individual, family, school or community group. For each piece of waste sent in using a pre-paid shipping label, participants can earn money toward donations to the school or charity of their choice.

“With the recycling program, Colgate enables their consumers to divert waste from landfills, engage their communities and be rewarded for their effort,” said Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle. “The growth of the Recycled Playground Challenge to include new prizing further promotes the program and creates awareness, allowing us to reach even more people and make a greater difference in the environment.”

This Recycled Playground Challenge is open to schools located throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland. Materials are being accepted from March 11 through June 30. The schools with the most Playground Credits will be named the winners by July 30, 2018 and the playgrounds – which will have approximate retail values of $50,000 and $40,000 – will be installed this fall. The second runner-up school and six honorable mention participants will be awarded various prizes and ShopRite gift cards.

“ShopRite is excited to once again bring this great program to schools in the communities where our ShopRite stores operate. The Recycled Playground Challenge motivates students to recycle and teaches them innovative ways to help the environment,” said Christine Magyarits, ShopRite Community Relations Manager.

In the coming weeks, TerraCycle and Colgate will be announcing a similar program in partnership with Meijer that will target Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.