Rotterdam pupils learn how to recycle e-waste

ROTTERDAM, 30 September 2026 – Around 200 pupils at KBS Albert Schweitzer in Rotterdam took part in the Wecycle Quiz on 28 September, learning what happens to discarded electrical devices and batteries and why they should be collected separately. The interactive school show combines quiz questions with activities designed to make recycling easier to understand at a young age.

_{Image: Pupils take part in a Wecycle Quiz about electrical waste and battery recycling. Photo: Stichting OPEN}

Batteries do not belong in the bin

The Wecycle Quiz is organised by Stichting OPEN, the organisation behind the national Wecycle recycling campaigns. A central lesson is that empty batteries and discarded electrical devices should not end up in ordinary household rubbish.

Instead, they can be handed in at more than 30,000 Wecycle collection points around the Netherlands. Separating this waste helps reduce safety risks and allows materials from old devices and batteries to be recovered and used again as raw materials.

The Rotterdam pupils encountered the subject through questions and interactive moments rather than a conventional lesson, with the programme designed to connect everyday items such as batteries and electronics with what happens after they are thrown away.

Rotterdam joins a national school tour

The visit to KBS Albert Schweitzer forms part of a national Wecycle Quiz tour visiting more than 40 primary schools this year. Stichting OPEN expects the programme to reach approximately 7,000 children across the country.

The quiz is linked to the wider Doe maar apart campaign, which draws attention to the risks created when batteries are disposed of with residual waste. More information about the campaign is available at doemaarapart.nl.

Schools can continue the subject after the quiz through Wecycle Kids, which provides free teaching materials, challenges and activities centred on recycling. The programme is available at kids.wecycle.nl.

Recycling continues beyond the classroom

Stichting OPEN coordinates the collection of discarded electrical appliances, lamps and batteries on behalf of producers and importers in the Netherlands. That also includes products such as solar panels and bicycle batteries.

Collected products are processed with recycling and sorting partners so that components and materials can be reused where possible. Through the Wecycle name, Stichting OPEN also runs public campaigns encouraging households and businesses to bring unwanted electrical products and batteries to dedicated collection points.

The school programme adds an educational side to that work, introducing children to the basic idea that an old battery, lamp or electrical device is not automatically rubbish once it stops working.