AN education centre in the new recycling facility at Waterbeach has been awarded the Learning Outside The Classroom Quality Badge. The education centre is attached to the Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant on Donarbon s waste management park, o

AN education centre in the new recycling facility at Waterbeach has been awarded the Learning Outside The Classroom Quality Badge.

The education centre is attached to the Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant on Donarbon's waste management park, on the A10 at Waterbeach, and is part of the major PFI waste management contract between Cambridgeshire County Council and Donarbon, and will help raise awareness about waste and recycling among school children.

The Quality Badge is the first national accreditation system for venues that provide learning outside the classroom and are accredited as offering good quality teaching and learning expereinces. The Badge then gives schools confidence that pupils visiting the centre will have a worthwhile educational experience within a facility which manages risk effectively.

Key to the county council's plans to minimise waste, increase recycling and reduce waste to landfill, throughout the 28-year contract with Donarbon, a huge number of students from primary and secondary schools, as well as higher educational establishments and local groups across Cambridgeshire, have already visited the education centre and Donarbon's 400-acre site, since the MBT plant opened last November.

Education Centre coordinator, Karen Brenchley is a fully qualified teacher who previously worked at Long Road Sixth Form College and the Wicken Fen Nature Reserve education centre. Schools visiting the facility can contact Karen who will tailor the work and other aspects of the trip to fit the relevant key stage of the pupils and different curriculum areas.

Councillor Tony Orgee, lead member for Economy and Environment at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "Engaging with young people is a key part of our ongoing efforts to increase recycling and reduce waste. The schoolchildren who visit our Education Centre are tomorrow's recyclers and we want to give this generation the opportunity to make the right choices for our environment. The Quality Badge is confirmation that we are providing a stimulating environment for children which is also safe."

Jemma Alston, contact manager for the PFI contract at Donarbon said: "We have always taken the education and aweareness raising part of our contract with the county council just as seriously as the practical aspects of sorting, treating and recycling the household rubbish, so that recycling will be second nature to the next generation. Receiving the Quality Badge for the education centre is deserved recognition for the excellent work Karen has put into school visits and effort Donarbon has made to create an exciting learning environment right next to all the machinery that is sorting and composting Cambridgeshire's waste.