Registration is now open for the third annual Recycle Bowl youth recycling competition.

All public and private U.S. schools are eligible to participate.

The competition runs from Oct. 21 through Nov. 15. Participating schools track and report how much recyclable material they collect for a chance to win prizes. At the close of the four-week competition, the school in each state (and the District of Columbia) that collects the most recyclable material per capita will win $1,000. A national champion will then be chosen from among the statewide winners to receive an additional grand prize.

"Inspiring young people to recycle at school reinforces the importance of recycling everywhere, whether at home or on-the-go," said Kelley Dennings, senior director of recycling for Keep America Beautiful, nonprofit sponsor of the event. "And while students are becoming better recyclers, their school facilities are also increasing their capacity to handle and recover more recyclable materials, thus creating better and more efficient systems for reducing the school's waste."

Last year more than 1,500 elementary, middle- and high-schools around the country participated in this race to collect the most recyclable material and learn about waste reduction and environmental responsibility. Schools that participate in the Recycle Bowl competition recycle 10 percent more than schools that don't participate.

New to the competition this year are food scrap and waste reduction benchmarking divisions. Those schools that collect food scraps for composting can see how they rank against other schools. If the school can provide not only its recycling data but also its trash data, Keep America Beautiful can calculate a waste reduction winner.

Educational recycling activities will also be provided online and through a registration tool kit.

For more information, visit http://recyclebowl. org.