The aim of the project was to get them more interested in studying science, ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) reported.

The pupils gathered at an ash heap, one of Ida-Viru County's many such human-made deposits and situated in Püssi, near Kohtla-Järve.

These heaps of tailings combined contain around 500 million tons of oil shale ash, residual from a major industry in the region.

Leaders of the Ida-Viru County slag heaps improvement project presented one oil shale ash by-product, ultra-pure calcium carbonate, to the students, a presentation which included dipping their fingers into ground up calcium carbonate and tasting it.

"The reason it can be tasted is that it can be assimilated by the body, and is in fact used in many food products and medicines," said Alar Saluste, manager of the OSA project conducted by waste disposal firm Ragn-Sells.

One of calcium carbonate's many industrial uses is in antacids and calcium supplements.

The lesson's aims were to demonstrate the opportunities available for science-minded youth in Ida-Viru County in achieving their potential and possibly to continue studies and ultimately end up

developing circular economy enterprises, Meelis Kuusk, who came up with the ash heap class idea, said.

Similarly, Saluste said: "We see the need to promote the study of natural sciences in Estonia and more broadly because there is a very large shortage of various raw materials."

"However, in order to produce these in new ways, we need new tech and the people to develop it. And inevitably in turn, to achieve that, people must study the natural sciences," Saluste added.

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