A Preston student has seen her winning bin lorry design in action.

Danikah, a year 9 student at Archbishop Temple High School, won Preston City Council’s competition to design artwork for one of their two new Rotopress wagons.

On Wednesday 19 June, Preston City Council went along to Danikah’s school to surprise her with the brand-new recycling wagon’s maiden voyage and to witness the reaction of her winning design becoming a reality.

Danikah described how she felt seeing the Rotopress for the first time, saying: “I feel extremely proud that my design was chosen, I didn’t expect to win. I thought I’d just participate, for the fun of it.”

Talking about her passion for recycling, Danikah added: “You shouldn’t waste anything that’s given to you, it’s good to keep hold of things and reuse them.”

The Mayor of Preston, Councillor Phil Crowe said: “We were really impressed by the level of entries in the competition and Danikah’s design really stood out. Putting the correct items in your recycling bins is important to save valuable resources, reduce carbon emissions and send fewer items to landfill.

“We hope that Danikah’s design will inspire residents to think before they bin and help
us create a cleaner, greener Preston.”

The design has given Preston City Council’s new Rotopress a fresh look as well as a message encouraging the public to recycle their waste.

This is the first time Preston City Council has used a Rotopress vehicle in more than 20 years.

The new Rotopress is a 26 tonne vehicle with a capacity of approximately 11.8 tonnes.

A standard refuse vehicle uses a blade to squash the waste into the back of the vehicle, whereas the Rotopress system works like a corkscrew and the waste is rotated towards the front of the vehicle.

The Rotopress will be gracing Preston’s streets very soon.

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