CHILDREN have shown their commitment to recycling in words and pictures.

Talented eight-year-olds Emily Hampshire and Mark Melia have won a competition to show how important household recycling is to the environment.

The pair have each won a gift voucher and a cheque for £200 for their school, St Godric's RC Primary School, in Framwellgate Moor, Durham City, in a competition organised by Waste Smart, a Durham County Council initiative funded by the Government Waste Resources Action Programme.

Emily wrote a prize-winning poem explaining what can be put into kerbside recycling boxes, while Mark drew a picture to show how recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill sites.

Prize money was donated by Premier Waste Management, the Durham-based company contracted to operate Kerb-it kerbside recycling.

Premier recycling manager David Carpenter said: "The County Durham Waste Smart competition is a great way of getting the recycling message over to children and in turn to their parents.

"By using Kerb-it kerbside recycling boxes, householders can make sure thousands of tonnes of cans, paper and glass are recycled and diverted away from landfill sites."