MOUNT LAUREL — The Countryside Elementary School placed second in the Colgate and ShopRite Recycled Playground Challenge, it was announced last week. Schools participating in the challenge earned credits for shipping empty toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and floss containers to TerraCycle, an upcycling and recycling company that repurposes difficult-to-recycle products. Additional credits could be earned by voting online. The school with the most playground credits, the Beloved Charter School in Jersey City, with 178,309, won a playground made entirely of recycled material, which will be installed during this year's back-to-school season. Countryside, a pre-kindergarten-through-fourth-grade school, earned 169,398 points and will receive 500 upcycled tote bags, 500 upcycled pencil cases, 500 upcycled pens, and a $750 ShopRite gift certificate. The Thomas E. Harrington Middle School, also in the township, participated in the competition and received an honorable mention. It earned 5,817 points and won 250 upcycled pens and a $150 ShopRite gift card. Hawthorne Elementary School in Willingboro placed third with 28,362 points and won 250 upcycled tote bags, 250 upcycled pens and a $500 gift certificate. The challenge was an initiative that sprung from a partnership involving ShopRite, Colgate and TerraCycle. "At TerraCycle, collecting the oral care waste is only half of the story,” said Tom Szaky, company founder and CEO. “The real magic happens when our partners choose to reuse the waste in a way that has a lasting benefit to a community, like Colgate and ShopRite have done with these playgrounds.” Szaky founded the company in 2001 with an organic worm-feces-based fertilizer. The Trenton firm has since expanded to produce recycling bins, fences, book bags, office supplies, home décor and more, all from recycled materials. The competition, which ran from March 19 to June 30, was open to schools in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.