MID Devon District Council recently ran a competition asking children of primary school age to enter a drawing which showed what the council collects as part of its kerbside blue food caddy collection and/or its subscription-based garden waste collection.

The competition was held following the arrival of the council’s new collection vehicles which the council says are an essential part of keeping food and garden waste separate when collected.

The council said it saves the taxpayer money when the organic material is composted and creates a better grade of compost and fertiliser.

The judges were looking for drawings that gave a positive message to inspire people to recycle their food and garden waste.

Food waste that is not put out in the blue caddies is sent to landfill and does not harmlessly break down. As it rots it releases methane – a harmful greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

A total of 67 amazing entries from children attending primary schools in Tiverton, Uffculme, Kentisbeare and Crediton were sent in.

Out of those entries, six lucky winners were announced at a presentation held at Phoenix House in Tiverton on Tuesday, June 5.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Clive Eginton, greeted the children and welcomed all to the presentation.

Cllr Eginton said: “Judging the competition proved to be really challenging for myself and Cllr Radford.

"We saw some very artistic and beautifully-coloured drawings.  It was fantastic to see the children had really thought about recycling and the benefits of composting food and garden waste.”

The six winners were presented with a certificate by Cllr Ray Radford, Chairman of the Environment Policy and Development Group, who said: “I would like to congratulate everyone who took part in the competition. We had a difficult time choosing the winners but feel we made the right decision; we have six wonderful drawings that really capture the essence of the competition and the winners should be very proud of themselves.”

The winners were Emily, Connie, May, Finley, Ruby and Victoria.

Each of them will have one of the new vehicles named after them with their artwork displayed on the body of the vehicle.

After the presentation the children were invited to sit in the lorry and chat with Recycling Officer Felicity Jones.