Dorchester youngsters are leading the fight against waste with the launch of their new community recycling space.

Mayor of Dorchester, Cllr David Taylor was the guest of honour on Thursday as The Prince of Wales School officially opened their‘Eco-Shed’.

The shed promotes and provides facilities for the community to recycle items that are usually difficult to dispose of.

The scheme which has been supported by Bradford Building Supplies, was the idea of the school’s pupil-led Eco-Committee.

Year 4 pupil and eco-champion, Sophie said: “The Eco-Shed is the first of it’s kind for our community. We wanted to create a space that made it easy to recycle.”

Items not freely recyclable through traditional curbside recycling schemes such as hand sanitizer tops, crisp packets, baby wipe packets, baby food pouches, biscuit wrappers and old toothbrushes can be deposited at the shed.

Fellow pupil Reece added: “By offering this facility at our school, we are doing our bit to help save the environment. This is just one of the many way our school is working to promote a sustainable future.”

The community are also able to purchase a range of eco-friendly cleaning products from the shed and reuseable containers to keep them in.

Headteacher Gary Spracklen said: “We have a lot of people to thank for making this project a reality. Thank you to Bradford Building Supplies and Maiden Castle Farm for their support, to all the parent and carers volunteers who have helped to construct and paint the structure. A special mention too for our ever-brilliant caretaker Mr Bascombe who has coordinated this project alongside our eco-committee.”

Mr Spracklen said he believes the project will have a long-term impact.

“This isn’t about today, this is about inspiring our children to build a brighter tomorrow by giving them enhanced opportunities to make a difference. We’ve already had overwhelming interest from our community about this work and we look forward to expanding what items can be recycled,” he said.

The ‘Eco-Shed’ was officially opened during the school’s ‘Science Week’ which saw the school transformed into an underwater world to educate pupils on the damage caused by plastic waste and how actions can impact the environment.