The initiative of the British school of Bilbao has won the category of “Educational Center” for the construction of panels with textile waste to reduce noise in the canteen

This Basque project, which has consisted of the construction of panels with textile waste to reduce noise in the school's dining room, has been one of the 6 winners among the more than 16,000 proposals registered throughout Europe during the 2022 edition.

The initiative of the British school of Leioa (Biscay) opts for the award for the construction of panels with towels to reduce noise in the canteen of its educational center. In addition to reusing materials such as old towels and pieces of fabric, these acoustic absorption mechanisms help generate a much more pleasant environment during mealtime, without diminishing the aesthetics.

The students themselves have been responsible for collecting and constructing the panels, and to obtain the material, the school has involved families by setting up containers for donations. In total, 330 students, more than 200 families and 50 teachers have been involved in the project.

A project from Gijón has also been awarded with the audience award, and another group from Catalonia, Occitania and the Balearic Islands, which has won the Special Award of the European Week for Waste Prevention. The first project, called “Mar de Peces”, has been promoted by the Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos Public School. The second, which has been awarded the Special Prize, has been the "Eurotextil circular" project on improving the management of textile waste in the Pyrenees-Mediterranean Euroregion.

The theme of the 2022 edition of the European Week for Waste Prevention has focused on circularity in textiles, to highlight the strong impact it has on our planet and, above all, to inspire actions that will bring more circularity to this sector.

European Week for Waste Prevention in the Basque Country

The European Week for Waste Prevention (EWWR) is the largest campaign to raise awareness about waste prevention in Europe. Driven by local and regional public authorities, it brings together all types of stakeholders (citizens, schools, companies, NGOs, associations, etc.). In the Basque Country, the Public Environmental Management Company of the Basque Government, Ihobe, is the entity in charge of promoting and boosting the European Week for Waste Prevention as the technical secretariat of urban waste coordinating body, OCR.

In this last edition of the European Week for Waste Reduction, held from November 19th to 27th, 2022, a total of 118 actions were received in the Basque Country: 41 administrations and authorities, 18 companies, 55 educational institutions and 4 associations. Across Europe, a total of 16,129 actions have been registered.

On the other hand, the organization has already announced the thematic focus of the 15th edition of the European Week for Waste Reduction, which will take place next November: packaging. Taking some figures from the European Commission on Packaging, this waste stream is one of the main consumers of virgin materials and already accounts for 36% of municipal solid waste.