Green scheme wins youth award

A “simple school assignment” led to Bray Park State High students being saluted at the 2023 Moreton Bay Business and Innovation Awards.

For the full list of winners click here.

Project Bray Green, which encourages students to recycle plastic on school grounds, won the Telstra Award for Youth Innovation Excellence.

Plastic bottles take hundreds of years to decompose and students realised how many were sold through the school tuckshop.

While businesses encourage recycling, rewarding students when they recycle has not been considered in schools. 

“It started with a simple school assignment,” Omar Abdelaty said, “we innovated it more with the teachers and Grade 7 and 8.

Corey Biggers added: “We have stands set up around the school with QR codes on them and developed an app and a website to take it outside school.

“The students recycle their bottles at the stands and scan their QR code to accumulate points and those can be used to redeem rewards such as handballs, gift cards, tuck shop vouchers.”

With a target age range of five to 18, the system can be used in primary and high schools.

The model also helps clean up school grounds and gives the P&C a chance to benefit by taking the plastic bottles to centres and exchange for cash.

Students are hoping to expand Project Bray Green outside of the school region so that the wide community can recycle for a cause or school.

They hope to partner with corporate business to get further support for the Project Bray Green program.