TransPennine Express gifts recycled art installation to Adelaide Primary School for Global Recycling Day

TransPennine Express (TPE) has gifted a sculpture made entirely of recycled materials to children at Adelaide Primary School to mark Global Recycling Day.

The artwork, that took more than 50 hours to create and features recycled material such as water bottles, cups, cardboard, newspapers and plastic waste, will now be on display for children throughout the school.

The train company commissioned Hull-based artist Andy Pea to create the sculpture, an impressionist view of one of their trains, to mark Global Recycling Day and highlight TPE’s continued effort towards becoming greener and further reducing its carbon footprint.

The sculpture was gifted to children from Adelaide Primary School this week after their important contribution to the project. The children spent a week collecting items that could be recycled and created their own sketches of how the sculpture could look, which Andy Pea took as inspiration for his final creation.

Fran Barrett, Business Assurance Director at TransPennine Express said: “We we’re delighted that Adelaide Primary School could help us with our project and what better way to mark Global Recycling Day than to gift the children who had been learning and helping us with the finished sculpture.

“We believe it’s vital for children to learn about recycling and the environment, so it’s been fantastic to see the children involved with this from the start. At TPE, we are committed to doing our bit to protect our environment for future generations and wanted to commission this sculpture to highlight this commitment ahead of Global Recycling Day. 

Amy Harvie, teacher at Adelaide Primary School, said: “It’s been a wonderful project for the children to work on and to have the finished result now on view for the whole school to see is fantastic.”

TPE has already taken steps towards becoming greener and is on track to reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent per vehicle kilometre by April 2023. The new Nova train fleet, which includes bi-mode and electric trains, helps reduce customers’ CO2 emissions by 77 per cent compared to travelling by an average car.

Global Recycling Day was created in 2018 to help recognise, and celebrate, the importance recycling plays in preserving precious primary resources and securing the future of the planet.

To read more about TPE’s sustainability drive visit: ​Sustainability | Low Carbon Travel | First TransPennine Express (tpexpress.co.uk)