The Scout Movement has launched a new badge this week in an attempt to get young people recycling.

The Environmental Partnership badge has been designed to enable young people to make a difference to the environment by tackling both recycling and influencing the behaviour of friends and family.

The badge has been launched by the Scout Association alongside Serco Local Government to get the 400,000 scouts nationwide recycling.

The syllabus aims to help young people become aware of recycling practices and to share their skills and attitudes with others.

If every one of the 400,000 Scouts across the county were to work towards the badge and get their community to recycling one tonne of paper, they will collectively save 6,800,000 trees.

Recycling one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for 6 hours. If every scout was to recycle a plastic bottle enough energy could be saved to power 10,117 homes for a whole day.

With figures like these it is no wonder the badge is designed to reduce waste and show young people the impact waste can have on a community.

Danny Barratt, 16, an Explorer Scout said: “I never realised how much material could be recycled and how much carbon could be saved by taking some simple actions at home.

“When I go home I am going to make sure my friends and family are aware of this stuff and take some actions to improve things.”

Parts of the badge will encourage the Scouts to think about what items from their rubbish bins could be recycled instead of just thrown away.

Resource packs containing high visibility vests, rigger gloves and recyclable rubbish bags are available from Serco to help Scout Groups plan and carry out clean up campaigns in their local communities.

Mike Brown, CEO from Serco said: “It is vital that young people develop an understanding about the importance of recycling, and the impact that litter can have on the communities in which they live in.”

He added: “We also hope that the Scouts will take some of the lessons they have learnt back to their homes, and help their parents and friends recycle and reduce their waste output.”