Students from St Joseph's College in Athlone have been awarded the senior prize in the sixth annual ECO-Unesco Young Environmentalist Awards.
The students won the prize for their project on the environmental effects arising from the waste-management of farm plastics.
Glenlola collegiate school, Bangor, won the junior prize for their investigation of alternative energy sources at the awards presented by the Minister for the Environment Dick Roche.
The Minister presented 13 awards to students from across Ireland who had been short-listed from 170 entries. The competition was open to those between the ages of 12 - 18 from the 32 counties.
This is the second year the competition has been sponsored by the department's environmental information service, ENFO.