Veolia sets the bar high by collecting and recycling 80,000 books across London with Southwark and Westminster leading the way
This International Children’s Book Day, Veolia, the UK’s leading resource management company, would like to thank all of those who have donated to their book banks, which collected 80,000 books for READ International in 2016, and encourage more people to share their old tales at dedicated book recycling banks.
You know those books sat on your shelves gathering dust? On 2 April, why not celebrate International Children’s Book Day by donating them to your nearest Veolia book bank! Your donation will help education charity READ International achieve their goal of opening twenty new libraries in secondary schools in Tanzania by the end of 2017 – helping Tanzanian students discover the joy of reading, improve their literacy and excel!
Veolia has been providing pro bono support to READ International since 2013, working together with Better World Books to provide a better learning experience for students in Tanzania. In the average Tanzanian classroom today, eight pupils have to share each single textbook, creating a significant barrier to learning. In some schools, there is only one textbook between 26 pupils! READ International converts disused classrooms in Tanzanian secondary schools into inspiring, well-stocked libraries that foster a love of reading and create a learning culture that inspires students to excel.
Veolia currently has book banks in Westminster, Lambeth, Kingston, Tower Hamlets, Haringey, Southwark and Richmond. When you donate your books to a Veolia book bank, all those in resalable condition are sold online via the socially conscious e-tailer BetterWorldBooks.co.uk. The money generated from these book sales is then used to buy brand-new books in Tanzania that follow the Tanzanian school curriculum. By purchasing locally-published books, READ International can provide pupils with reading material in both English and the national language of KiSwahili, as well as fiction that is culturally and contextually relevant to the students. This model also helps to support local publishing businesses in Tanzania.
What can be put in the banks? Donations of books across all categories are welcomed, so long as they are in good condition. However, damaged or stained books, those with pages missing and non-book items (such as CD’s and VHS tapes) cannot be processed and should be recycled using an alternative service..
Veolia is proud to say that all book donations that are unable to be resold are recycled, meaning no book donated to a Veolia book bank ever goes to landfill. Last year, Veolia, READ and Better World Books were able to divert 80,000 books from ending up in landfill through their partnership.
A special congratulations goes to Southwark and Westminster who were the boroughs that donated the most books in 2016, with residents in Southwark donating a whopping 40,766 books to their local Veolia book banks! Westminster residents donated more than 27,000 books and were the borough who donated the highest percentage of books that were able to be resold to raise funds for READ international.
Daniel Green, Innovation and Recycling Manager for Veolia London said: “Teaming up with READ International and Better World Books has been an extremely rewarding experience. Together we’ve been successful in preventing 80,000 books going to landfill! This innovative approach has helped Veolia, the UK’s leading resource management company, increase recycling rates within the region and reduce waste. I look forward to seeing what READ International and Veolia are able to achieve together in 2017.”
Georgina-Kate Adams, UK Fundraising Coordinator for READ International said: “We are so grateful to everyone who supports our London book banks – including our partners Veolia and Better World Books. With your help, we were able to raise the funds to open 11 new libraries in Tanzanian secondary schools last year, enhancing the education of more than 7,500 students. In total, more than 58,000 students have access to our 88 libraries each year and, with your support, we aim to open our 100th library in 2017! Give a book this International Children’s Book Day and you will help a child in Tanzania to reach their full potential!”
Fiona Marshall, Sales and Marketing Manager for Better World Books said: “At Better World Books we’re passionate about finding new homes for pre-loved books. Book banks are an extremely easy way for the general public to drop off books they no longer need. We’re proud to be working with READ International and Veolia, collecting books, keeping them out of landfill and making a difference to literacy in Tanzania.”
To find your nearest Veolia book bank, visit: tinyurl.com/veoliabookbanks
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Notes to the Editor
About Veolia UK: We are committed to protecting the environment and improving the lives of the communities in which we operate and have been awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development and received a Four Star rating in Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index for 2015.
Veolia group is the global leader in optimised resource management. With over 174,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them.
In 2015, the Veolia group supplied 100 million people with drinking water and 63 million people with wastewater service, produced 63 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 42.9 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €25 billion in 2015.
For more information, visit www.veolia.co.uk or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/veoliauk.
About READ International: Founded in 2004 by a group of socially entrepreneurial students at Nottingham University, READ International believe that the joy of reading should be for everyone. By creating a space that captures young people’s imaginations and fosters a love of books, literacy can be fun!
READ works with volunteers from Tanzanian universities to convert disused classrooms in government secondary schools into inspiring libraries and fill them with locally-published and locally-relevant textbooks and fiction: changing the way Tanzania reads, one book at a time.
In Tanzania, most schools only have one textbook for every eight pupils, and in many schools, even less. READ International’s principle aim is to tackle the textbook shortage in Tanzania, which presents a significant barrier to learning. READ helps children to stay in school, by creating a learning culture that inspires pupils to excel. To date READ International has donated 1.5 million books to Tanzanian schools, benefitting 750,000 pupils.
For more information, visit www.readinternational.org.uk or follow READ on Facebook and Twitter: /readint
About Better World Books: Better World Books is a for-profit socially minded global e-retailer providing products and information to socially conscious consumers. Better World Books collects and sells new and used books online with each sale generating funds for literacy initiatives in the UK and around the world. Since launching in 2008 in Dunfermline, UK, Better World Books has raised more than £2.5 million for libraries and literacy and re-used or recycled over 29 million books.
For more information, visit cares.betterworldbooks.co.uk or follow BWB on Facebook: /betterworldbooksuk or Twitter: @BWBUK
