Hartlepool school pupils clinch prestigious environmental award

Manor Community Academy Year 10 students Jessica Black, Libby Crawford, Phoebe Macdonald, Owen Grant and Ethan Wain are the winners of the North-East regional Shell Bright Ideas Competition.

The contest aims to encourage youngsters to develop a range of skills including creativity, problem solving, team working and innovative thinking.

The team carried out extensive scientific research about how they could improve their local environment and considered the effect of plastic pollution on local beaches.

They proposed the inventive solution of using genetically-engineered enzymes to break down plastic at the new waste-to-energy plant in Billingham, instead of using vast amounts of heat, arguing that finding alternative ways to reuse plastic promotes the welfare of the environment and creates a safer and greener community.

School principal Lee Kirtley said: “I am so proud of the tenacity, resilience and creativity our students have shown to win the Shell Bright Ideas Challenge.”