Over 15 tonnes of bottle caps were collected in the 2015-2016 school year under the programme ‘I can’t get enough caps’. The campaign was organised by the Cyprus Antirheumatic Association and the education ministry with the support of insurance company Universal Life.
Eleftheria Antoniou who is in charge of the fund-raiser said on Thursday that she was optimistic this year there would be much better results as the programme, which was implemented in 2015 and wasn’t well-known in the beginning, has been expanded to more schools in the new school year.
“From September onwards we got on much better,” she said.
Collecting the plastic lids from milk bottles, water bottles and other containers in special bins is aimed at informing young students about rheumatic diseases, raising awareness on environmental issues and on how important recycling is.
“One tonne of plastic caps brings in €100 which is used for the supply of special devices for people suffering from rheumatism, particularly those who have financial problems,” Antoniou explained.
The caps are collected at primary schools and kindergartens in Nicosia and Limassol.
Schools participating in the programme also take part in a competition between September 1, 2016 and April 6, 2017 and the first three schools in each district based on the number of students and the number of lids gathered will be awarded prizes at a ceremony in May.
In addition to the campaign in schools, there are bins at the Nicosia General Hospital, Makarios Hospital, most Cyta shops, the electricity authority, at CyBC and Sigma Channels as well as Alpha Mega supermarkets.
Lids are collected at regular intervals from the Paralimni hospital and as of last year the association also works with the Yeroskipou municipality.
The public can also take the bottle caps to the offices of the antirheumatic association in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca.
All schools which participate can be found on this website: http://recycling.unilife.com.cy/. Any school can join the campaign at any time. For more information the public can contact the local offices of the Cyprus Antirheumatic Association in Nicosia 22-428285, Limassol 25-344432 and Larnaca 24-361085.
