LONDON — March 18, 2025 — The Global Recycling Foundation (GRF) has announced the winners of its Recycling Heroes Competition 2025.
Entrants were invited to submit a 60 to 90 second video demonstrating innovative ideas to promote recycling, sustainability, educational awareness or waste reduction in their community, school or business.
Videos were judged on creativity and clarity of message illustrating success stories and educational outreach.
The 20 winning entries have won $500 plus inclusion in a press release shared through our global channels.
Additionally, the first 50 winning entries will be shared on all our global channels over the following 12 months.
Marking Global Recycling Day, Ranjit Baxi, founding president of the GRF, said: “On this Global Recycling Day let us all pledge to share and promote recycling as an integral part of the Global Circular Economy.
“The danger is that the circular economy becomes regionalized by overarching regulatory controls and increasing protectionism, instead we must work together to allow free and fair global trade as we are contributing to global environmental benefits.
“We need to promote the three Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle — as our fundamental drivers. I am heartened by the number of entries in our Recycling Heroes competition which have focused on the use of plastic. They all recognize that we must eradicate single use plastic.
“Recycling saves over a billion tons of Carbon Emissions each year and these savings need to be translated into easily tradeable Carbon or Plastic Credits. We need to agree on harmonized Carbon Credit methodologies that can be easily applied across all recyclables — plastic, paper, metals, tires and textiles.”
‘It is high time that world leaders recognize recycling and place it high on the agenda at the COP30 in Brazil as part of Article 6 discussions.”
The winning entries are:
Lennart Osthoff | Repartly / Gütersloh, Germany
Repartly repairs and refurbishes PCBs for household appliances (washing machines, dishwasher, dryers…) with the help of ABB cobots. Repartly is an initial treatment facility for preparation for reuse. They work with Recycling companies all around Europe in order to harvest parts from the e-waste stream and bring the back into the cycle.
Toys up, Netherlands
This group started by Nanda Slikkerveer and four other entrepreneurs, believe that used toys should be the new standard, not only for people who want better for the environment, but for everybody. Simply because it is an attractive product. We offer sustainable and high-quality toys that are affordable and contribute to a better future through our circular approach by carefully cleaning and repairing them.
GreenLite Solutions, Nigeria
Sayyedi Umar of GreenLite Solutions, through its flagship project Sustainphere, is committed to addressing one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges: Plastic waste pollution. By converting discarded plastic materials into value-added products like eco-friendly school bags, shopping bags, and storage solutions, they tackle two critical issues: waste management and affordability for low-income families.
Clean Circle Ltd., Cameroon
Clean Circle Plastic Money Community is a project to clean up the mountains of plastic waste in Cameroon where millions of tons are being discarded every year of which about 80 perent of the waste ends up on the streets, rivers and drains, 15 percent is buried in landfills and only 5 percent is recycled.
Going green Dubai, UAE
Going Green Dubai is a platform to inspire communities and youth to join the cause for recycling and work towards sustainability, focusing on E- Waste, plastic bottles and paper. E Waste being their primary focus. Going Green Dubai’s mission is to increase youth participation to preserve our planet as we are the future. They have been successful in collecting and recycling 4,208 kgs of electronic waste, 12,805 plastic bottles and 687 Kgs of paper to date.
Evan J Schwartz of AMCS Group, North Carolina
Evan J. Schwartz leads the AMCS Group, a market leader in performance sustainability, provides SaaS vertical ERP end-to-end software for the waste, recycling, and commodity management industries and enabling resource-intensive Industries to enhance both sustainability and profitability.
He also is the CEO of Noble House of Schwartz, drives strategic leadership and innovation in technology and business in the Recycling Industry. He also heads the Enterprise Foundation where he leads global engineering teams & is also adjunct Professor at Jacksonville University where he works with next generation IT professionals helping equip future leaders to tackle challenges of the rapidly growing digital AI world. His focus is on advancing AI, data science, and sustainable technology solutions.
Project Kaagaz, promoting Paper recycling by Learning Paths School, Mohali, Punjab, India
Kaagaz, a Community Service initiative by Learning Paths School, Sector-67, Mohali, Punjab to promote the importance of Recycling of Paper. Their video showed the importance of sustainable practices and how Kaagaz is contributing to the recycling movement within the community. The school project makes recycled paper for use as Book Markers by the school students.
Mosquito-Shield Potpourri, Uganda
Mosquito-Shield Potpourri – A Sustainable Solution for Mosquito-Borne Diseases and Waste Reduction. We’ve developed an innovative, eco-friendly potpourri that repels mosquitoes and other insects, promoting a healthier environment while reducing waste. Using repurposed flower waste, used tea bags, pine cones and used maize cobs, orange peels and plastic bottles they have produced Mosquito-Shield Potpourri .
Chelmsford College, England
Chelmsford College consistently show their dedication to pioneering a greener future. With a commitment to reaching net zero by 2040, they run various recycling initiatives to help achieve this, including The Pringles Tube Recycling Programme, collecting, and recycling many other items, including plastic tubs, magazines, newspapers, and wood offcuts, as well as creating their own app, Nexus, designed to lead a greener community. The college runs its own recycling bins and manages a renewable sustainable shop on the campus
Ittisha Sarah, Founder of Northeast Waste Collective and Director of Azure Lotus Foundation, Assam, India
Our community-led waste management project in Sangti Valley segregates village waste into wet and dry recyclables. The wet waste is composted and fed to animals while the dry waste is sorted and taken to local recycling companies. The profits are used for local community projects.
Sarah was also recognized for her recycling services by Hon’ble PM of India, Mr Narendra Modi, in his Maan ki Baat broadcast on the 24th of November 2024.
Mercy Amarachukwu Abayomi of Ama Shop It, Nigeria
Ama Shop It, sustainability is at the heart of everything they do to reduce plastic waste and foster cleaner, healthier environment. As an e-commerce platform committed to transforming African commerce, they recognize the need and community responsibility to protect the planet while supporting businesses and consumers. In 2024, they partnered with ROTB Foundation to reduce plastic waste and foster a cleaner, healthier environment.
Torre Plstik, Portugal
TORRE PLSTIK is a project created in 2022 that consists of collecting and transforming plastic packaging into skateboards primarily focusing on plastic grades 2 and 5. For each skateboard about 1.5 kg of plastic is recycled. The pieces produced can be used freely by the community and regulars of Torre’s skate park. The aim is to democratize sport and generate a positive impact by raising awareness in the neighborhood community about the problem of incorrect disposal of plastic material.
Sabine Janneck of Circle Cook Island
Sabine Yanneck is a dedicated recycling champion in the Cook Islands, committed to reducing waste and promoting sustainable practices. Through Circle Cook Islands, she has been instrumental in educating communities about responsible waste management, driving innovative recycling initiatives, and inspiring positive change.
Robinsons Malls, Philippines
Robinsons Malls launched the, Everyday for a Greener Future, Sustainability initiative to integrate sustainability into daily life, encouraging consumers to adopt ecofriendly habits whilst shopping, dining, and entertainment by addressing key environmental concerns such as waste management, climate action, and community engagement.
Safisana, Ghana/Tema
The core of our business is Upcycling Waste for Good. They collect organic and faecal waste daily and turn it into renewable natural gas that can be used for green electricity, and locally-made organic fertilizers for farmers and home gardeners to grow organic food while creating a circular economy, impacting 80,000 people yearly.
Princes Town West Secondary School, Trinidad and Tobago
Save The Earth Project. The small island developing state of Trinidad and Tobago is very much affected by a number of environmental issues. One problem identified by the school is a high level of land pollution. To tackle this they shared awareness by engaging the pupils to learn the benefits of recycling and promoted the collection of things as plastic bottles as fun by earning rewards for the classes and promoting Recycling on the Island. A very innovative approach.
Cartridge Depot, South Africa
Cartridge Depot has been a pioneer in promoting recycling and sustainability in South Africa since 2015. The organization collects and recycles printer cartridges, reducing waste and minimizing environmental harm. They also empower local communities by providing a sustainable income for waste collectors.
Ecoact, Tanzania
ECOACT Tanzania is a social enterprise that has developed a chemical free technology to transform ocean plastic waste, packaging materials and electronic waste to manufacture durable and affordable plastic timbers used for building, construction as well as furniture making. Through their work, they are able to mitigate environmental challenges through reduction in waste plastic creation and meet social challenges through delivering means of sustainable living in affordable housing.
The Koru Foundation, India
Our Recycle Station initiative provides a structured system for waste segregation and encourages responsible recycling within the communities. Through this project, we aim to create awareness, make recycling more accessible, and inspire individuals to take action in waste management.
Erni Suhaina Fadzry of Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council, Indonesia
Suhaina Fadzry believes “Waste is a problem caused by the living activities of the people, as the waste producers. Therefore, the waste problem should be their responsibility, and they should be more responsible by getting involved in waste management and utilization, starting from homes, schools, and mosques.”
She has been working since 2005 and has established Bu Nandang training centre in Bahasa focusing on waste management and educational awareness. She has succeeded in mobilizing public awareness and speaks at larger public schools, universities and NGO.
Posted: March 18, 2025
Source: The Global Recycling Foundation (GRF)
