What a waste! competition winners

Key Stage 3: in-depth investigation

The winners of the 11-14 year old group were William Lewis and Harry Roffey at Bodiam Manor School in East Sussex, supervised by teacher Kate Holmes.

William and Harry carried out an in-depth investigation into why plastic cannot be recycled in their local area, quizzing the local council and supermarket in the process - presenting their findings in a PowerPoint presentation.

Key Stage 4: eye-catching collage

Josie Palmer and Katie Leivers from the Ridgeway School in Swindon were the winners of the 14-16 year old group, supported by teacher Heather Siebenaller.

Josie and Katie looked at what could be done to reduce waste, presenting their findings on an eye-catching collage. To really bring the message home, the team raided senior staff's wastepaper bins and got creative with what they found.

Key Stage 5: shopping bag scheme

Mark Malik, Alice Jones, Daniel Beech, Sultana Akhtar and Matthew Jones at Joseph Leckie School in Walsall, with the support of teacher Joe Greaves, were the winners of the 16-18 year old group.

This team set themselves the challenge of coming up with an innovative solution to the waste reduction problem: a reusable shopping bag scheme. By using recycled materials and a community-centred approach, this social enterprise looks set to rid their community of plastic carrier bags.

Winners' day

The winners met with the Lord Speaker, toured the Houses of Parliament and discussed their submission with the Members of the House of Lords Sub-Committee on Waste Reduction on 9 June.

Everyone's a winner

All entrants received a certificate, the What a waste! report (compiled from the entries) and a copy of Lord O'Neill's response to the report.

Thanks to everyone who took part!

View the winners of the Lord Speaker's 2007 essay competition