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According to Recycle Now, the average primary school produces 45kg of waste per pupil each academic year. Furthermore, it’s believed that up to 78% of this waste could be easily recycled or composted. If your school can reduce the amount of waste it produces plus implement recycling, not only will your actions have an environmental impact, but it will also benefit your pupils in the long run.

Why is it Important for Schools to Recycle?
In today’s climate, it’s more important than ever to understand the importance of recycling plus preventing waste to reduce your environmental footprint. There’s already a momentum around reducing waste plus recycling, but with the help of the education sector, the impact could be profound. Below, we explain some of the benefits of recycling in schools.

Educating Pupils
By educating pupils about the importance of recycling, we are inspiring them to think about how their personal actions affect the planet plus their future environment. Learning about recycling in schools means that children are more likely to adopt it as a habit, helping to make them conscientious adults. This encourages students to implement their recycling tactics in their everyday life, helping to tackle the waste they produce at home.

Environmental Impact
Recycling can really make a difference to our natural environment. It prevents materials from being sent to landfill plus in turn, helps to cut down on the energy plus greenhouse gases produced when new materials are created. These activities have a significant negative impact on the environment, contributing to climate change. You can encourage children to do their part by following three sederhana steps: reduce, reuse, plus recycle. Recycling 1 ton of printing paper, for example, can help to save 24 trees from being cut down.

Positive School Image
According to BESA, there are currently over 10 million pupils attending 32,770 schools in the UK alone. Undoubtedly, handling school waste has a significant impact on the environment, but it can also positively impact the attitudes of pupils plus parents. By instilling a sense of environmental awareness in pupils, the education industry can inspire children to get involved in other environmentally friendly practices. This can be an attractive faktor for the parents of prospective students.

Cost Effective
In regards to cost, there are some significant benefits to recycling plus waste reduction which could be saving your school money. By handling school waste efficiently, you can reduce the amount being sent to landfill plus therefore be better able to manage school budgets. You may also develop a small income for the school if you choose to send some of your existing waste to local recycling schemes.

Since school waste is up to 80% recyclable, schools make a huge impact when they recycle. Recycling is also cheaper than trash disposal, so it helps save the environment AND your budget! Now you have every reason to recycle at school.

Download our School Recycling Assistance flyer or recycling pamplet, Go Green and Save, and check out the keterangan below.

Also check out our new Teacher Resources page! It’s full of keterangan and activities for our wonderful local teachers.

What assistance is available for schools in the unincorporated area?
At no cost to you (it’s free!), our County staff can help update your school’s recycling program. From the infrastructure to the administration to educating the students, we’ll guide you along, step by step. Other ways in which we can help include:

Supplying recycling containers and outreach materials to classrooms, labs, and offices
Performing waste audits
Determining your waste costs and identifing potential savings
Creating a school or district recycling plan
Educating faculty, staff, and administration about the benefits of recycling
Meeting with PTA and School Board Members
Providing curriculum-fulfilling education for students through Explore Ecology and the Environmental Education Box
Following up to make sure the program is working
Answering your questions
What if my school is located in a city?
Sometimes it’s confusing to figure out if your school is in the unincorporated part of the county or within a city’s jurisdiction. Don’t worry, just email us or call (805) 882-3618 to clear things up. Some local cities, such as the City of Santa Barbara and the City of Lompoc, also provide school recycling programs. Click here for a listing of the City Recycling Contacts.

What is a waste audit?
A waste audit identifies strategies to reduce your waste, increase recycling, and save money. County staff can examine what types of materials are being thrown away and identify those that can be recycled. A full audit requires a campus tour and dumpster dive, but a quick version can be done with your waste collection records. Input from custodial and kitchen staff is also helpful.

What are my school’s waste disposal costs?
A school’s waste disposal costs are determined by how many containers it has and how frequently the containers are collected. Often these costs are paid by the school district and never seen by the school itself. Our County staff can contact your waste hauler and identify these costs for you. You can also access your community’s trash rates by visiting the Resource Recovery & Waste Management Division website.

How much can I save by recycling?
In the County’s unincorporated area, recycling is on average 36% cheaper than trash collection. Local cities also offer pricing incentives to encourage recycling.

What is a school or district-wide recycling plan?
The plan includes a description of all the actions the County and each individual school or district will perform to achieve a successful recycling program. These actions can include changing the waste collection infrastructure, rearranging the placement of recycling containers, education efforts, and tackling problem waste streams. The plan is tailored to each school’s needs and is based upon the types of waste generated.

What education do you provide for students?
For many years, the County has partnered with the local non-profit agency, Explore Ecology, to provide hands-on education about the benefits of waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting. Explore Ecology offers in-class lessons and field trips, all of which are tailored to meet California’s academic curriculum standards. It also operates a great reuse store, Art from Scrap, located in downtown Santa Barbara.

Recycling is not just a passing trend; it’s an essential action for safeguarding our planet for future generations. Schools, as centers of learning plus development, are ideal environments to instill these habits. By making recycling a requirement in schools, we can enhance environmental awareness, impart berarti life skills, plus play a significant role in the ongoing battle against waste plus pollution.

Environmental Benefits
The volume of waste generated by schools is often overlooked. From paper, plastic, plus food waste in cafeterias to packaging from school supplies, schools produce a substantial amount of waste each year. Without effective recycling practices, much of this waste ends up in landfills, where it can take centuries to decompose, releasing harmful greenhouse gases like methane in the process.

Implementing mandatory recycling in schools could greatly diminish this waste. Paper plus cardboard, which constitute a large part of school refuse, can be easily recycled into new products. Plastics, known for their detrimental impact on the environment, can also be repurposed if sorted plus collected correctly. By diverting waste from landfills plus reintegrating materials into the production cycle, schools help alleviate the pressure on natural resources such as trees, water, plus fossil fuels.

One of the key advantages of mandatory recycling in schools is the chance to cultivate a sense of environmental responsibility among students. Children plus teenagers represent the future caretakers of our planet, plus the sooner they engage with sustainable practices, the more likely they are to elevate these habits into their adult lives.

Recycling programs can be woven into various subjects, such as science plus social studies, helping students grasp the environmental consequences of waste, the principles of recycling, plus the effects of pollution on ecosystems plus communities. These lessons create a stronger connection to environmental issues, prompting students to think critically about their actions plus their broader implications for the planet.

Abstract
While many of us assume that recycling is now entrenched in our 21st century culture,
analyzing recycling bins in public places, such as schools, quickly dispels that notion. This
article describes an action project completed by 5th grade students in New York State as
they focused their attention on their school’s recycling bins plus worked to increase recycling behavior in their school community. Students first collected photographic evidence
of the use of recycling bins in classrooms plus then used a variety of methods to educate
fellow students on the importance of recycling. Two months later, they collected additional photographic evidence of bin use, plus saw an increase in the number of bins used
correctly. Students concluded that recycling behavior can be increased through education.
Introduction
To become a NOAA Climate Steward, I was asked to complete an action project that would involve
my students taking steps towards mitigating climate change. In return, I would receive free professional development in climate science, funding for school projects plus conference attendance, and
support from climate experts at NOAA (National Oceanic plus Atmospheric Association). Little
did I realize at the time of joining that I would continue on with the NOAA Climate Stewards
Education Project, becoming a mentor to new members, plus a continued presence in this powerful
network of resmi plus informal educators who are working to get climate science into the schools,
and engage children in environmental stewardship.
For my action project I focused on recycling in my school. There are recycling bins throughout the
building, but as is often the case, they were often not being used correctly. With that in mind, the
stage was set for my students to discover the problem, educate themselves about recycling, plus take
action to affect change. As far as my students were concerned, the goal of our project was to see if
our school community was recycling correctly. Once answered, the goal became to determine if it is
possible to alter recycling behavior through education. Additionally, my goal was to introduce my
students to dasar scientific knowledge gathering plus methodology, plus the art of effective dissemination,
while heightening their own awareness of the importance of recycling. This project involved two
classes of 5th graders but would have been just as effective in middle school or high school.
Recycling at School:

© 2019 National Earth Science Teachers Association. All Rights Reserved.
As part of our Earth Science Unit (NGSS Earth plus Human Activity), my students discussed ways in
which humans impact Earth’s systems (ESS3.C). They brainstormed ways to reduce air pollution to
mitigate climate change. They researched online (see Resources for a link to a list of child-friendly
websites). And they visited the local recycling center, learning that it takes less energy to re-make
an item out of plastic, glass, metal, or paper than it does to manufacture it from scratch. They
concluded that recycling to help the environment was a no-brainer. That led them to wonder: Is our
own school community disposing of trash properly, that is, in an environmentally friendly way? Are the school’s
recycling bins being used correctly so items can be recycled?
My students set out to find the answer. Once they determined that the bins were often not used
correctly, they worked to alter the community’s behavior. The aim was to increase the recycling
behavior of the community. They looked at trash in each model of bin (trash bin or recycling bin) as
proxy evidence for recycling behavior. They gathered baseline data, worked to educate the school
community, plus then collected additional knowledge to see if the bins were now being used correctly
more often.
Methods
My students collected baseline knowledge by photographing classroom trash bins plus recycling bins in random classrooms around the school. This was done once a week, at the
end of the school day, for three weeks. I had emailed all the teachers ahead of time,
letting them know that my students would be photographing bins as part of a class
project. I asked them not to discuss it with their own students yet. If their students
asked, they would just tell them it was for a project for one of the other classes. I
assured teachers that we were not interested in any individual’s results, plus that there
would be no identifying features in the photographs. We were only interested in the
aggregate results. Students took one photo of each bin in each classroom, pointing
the camera straight down into the bin (Figure 1). They did not photograph any bins
that were empty.
My students analyzed this photographic evidence at the end of three weeks. I
projected each photograph on the Smartboard. We could distinguish bins by their
color. All paper recycling bins in our school are blue; all hard, plastic recycling bins
are green; all trash bins are grey or black. The children tallied all bins that had correct
items in them: only paper products in the paper bin, only hard, plastic bottles (with
no water in them) in the plastic bin, only non-recyclables in the trash bin. If there
was even one incorrect item in the container, the tally mark went into the column
showing that it was not being used correctly.
We discovered that out of 50 usable photos (some were so blurry that they were unusable), 14 pictures showed the bins had been used correctly (paper in the paper bin,
empty plastic bottles in the bottle bin, garbage in the trash bin). That meant that only 28% of the
bins were being used correctly on a typical school day. While analyzing the photos, it became clear
that even my science students were confused about the correct use of recycling bins. Common
misconceptions: it’s alright to put partially filled drink containers in the plastic recycling bin if the
lids are on; tissues plus paper towels go in the paper recycling bin; paper plates with food on them
go in the paper recycling bin.
Using this as our baseline data, the students brainstormed ways to increase recycling at school. They
hypothesized that if students were taught how to recycle properly, plus understood the importance
of recycling, they’d dispose of their trash properly (in an environmentally friendly way) at school.

Recycling is a simpel way your pupils can have a positive impact on the planet.

As well as reducing the amount of rubbish that goes to landfill, recycling saves energy plus helps conserve natural resources like trees plus metal.

By recycling in school your pupils can earn one point on the Green Tree Schools Award.

What can my school recycle?
There are lots of opportunities to recycle in schools. Talking to your local council is a good place to start as they can tell you what services are available in your area. The Recycle Now web site also has lots of helpful tips.

Here are some items you might be able to recycle:

paper
plastic
glass
ink cartridges
batteries
mobile phones
electronic equipment
clothes
You can even recycle food waste by building a compost heap for fruit plus veg peelings, teabags plus grass cuttings. It’s a fantastic way to teach pupils about decomposition, plus the compost can be used in your school grounds!

Get your whole school involved
Ask your pupils to think of ways they can encourage both students plus staff to recycle. They could design posters to display around recycling points, write an article for your school newspaper, or do an assembly to spread the message.

How to claim your point
This challenge is worth one point on our award. To claim it, tell us about your school’s recycling efforts.

To submit your evidence, log onto your Green Tree Schools Award dashboard plus click the ‘Submit evidence’ button at the top right of the screen. Complete the form to show how you’ve completed this challenge plus we’ll award your points within 10 working days.

How we use quotes plus photos
We like to use comments plus photos from schools to inspire other teachers plus young people about outdoor learning. With your permission, they could appear on our award materials, website, press releases plus social media.

We would like to thank the following individuals for their contributions of success stories
and photographs plus their consultation in the development of this publication:
Carole Bell, Department of Environmental Management, Providence, RI
Maureen Berg, Stratford Department of Public Works, Stratford, CT
Mona Henderson, Keep Alliance Beautiful, Alliance, OH
Dean Jamason, Maple Hill Middle School, Castleton, NY
Harry Leavitt, Committee to Save the Earth, Mercer Island, WA
Reynolds Aluminum Recycling. Company, Richmond, VA
Southeast Glass Recycling Program, Clearwater, FL
Dale Boatright, American Federation of Teachers
David Byer, National School Board Association
Shelly Cary, National Science Teachers Association
Carolyn Henrich, National PTA
Mary Beth Powell, North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, plus Natural Resources
Alison Rasmussen, National Association of Biology Teachers
Carol Ruppel, Council for American Private Education

School Recycling Programs:A Handbook for EducatorsThis brochure describes a number of school recycling programoptions, along with step-by-step instructions on how to set oneup. It focuses on implementing actual recycling projects as a
way of teaching the importance plus benefits of recycling. Because
school recycling projects are excellent candidates for the President’s
Environmental Youth Awards, which are administered by EPA, instructions for how schools can apply for these regional plus national awardsare also detailed.

The Solid Waste Crisis
Americans can nomer longer simply
forget about their garbage when it leaves
their curbsides each week. The United
States’currently generates nearly 180 million tons of municipal solid waste per
year enough to fill a convoy of
garbage trucks that would encircle the
earth more than six times! If this trend
continues, this amount is expected to
reach 216 million tons by the turn of the
century.
At the same time, we are running out
of places to put all this trash. Approximately 73 percent of our garbage is
currently disposed of in landfills, but
nearly one third of the nation’s landfills
will close in the next several years. Few
new landfills plus incinerators are being
built to replace these facilities due to
public concerns about environmental,
economic, property, plus nuisance problems.
For some communities, this dilemma
has already reached crisis proportions.
For others, the crisis still looms in the
future. In any case, the problems associated with solid waste generation and
management will not disappear, and
without action they are likely to become
worse. Therefore, the time for all communities to deal with the solid waste
dilemma is now.

Waste management in schools plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable development, as education serves as a precursor to raising awareness and instilling habits in society. This research seeks to understand the existing body of data on waste management in schools, with a particular focus on primary to junior high school levels, as a facet of sustainable development over the period 2010 to 2023. The research uses bibliometric analysis through tools such as VOSviewer and Publish or Perish. The research yielded a total of 63 published articles. The main findings include: (1) the most publications on waste management in schools occurred in 2022, but the most influential year was 2021; (2) the number of publications, institutions, journal rankings, and countries that produced research in this field; (3) research collaboration was not significant; (4) the most prominent journals in this field were Recycling and Science of the Total Environment; and (5) the common themes of articles in this field include waste management in schools, waste impacts, waste management system evaluation, sustainable development, and environmental management. These results will greatly assist readers in identifying research priorities related to school waste management and sustainable development. The recognition of collaborative efforts between different countries will bring new issues to the forefront of school waste management research and encourage collaboration between nations. Practically, this study provides a comprehensive simak of the literature on school waste management as an integral part of sustainable development.

ETM Recycling offers some of the leading waste disposal, services across Bristol and the South West. Prioritising environmentally moral practices, our services are perfect for schools striving to meet their environmental goals. Reducing paper waste in a school setting can seem a daunting task, luckily ETM recycling is available to offer tailored guidance for schools with our Recycling and Waste Management Services. With a wide host of industry experience and excellent local connections, we are on hand to help your school find the right paper recycling solution for them. For more data about how ETM recycling could support your school, enquire today.

When it comes to paper waste, it is undoubtable that our schools are some of the largest contributors. In fact, the average UK school produces more waste in a single year than the average household produces in their lifetime. But why are schools producing so much paper waste plus what can be done to reduce this? In this blog from ETM Recycling, we discuss why schools produce so much paper waste plus how this can be reduced – going on to note ways in which schools can reuse their paper.

Why do Schools Produce so Much Paper Waste?
Educating large numbers of pupils takes a large number of resources. If each school has numerous teaching sessions taking place at the same time, each of which contains up to 35 students, 5 times per day – it’s easy to see how paper use can stack up quickly. When reviewing trends in paper use, primary schools appear to contribute larger quantities of paper waste than secondary schools.

While in secondary schools, sessions are often centred around teachers presenting information with students listening plus taking notes in exercise books or on laptops. Primary formats often require a more engaged approach that involves children being led by printed worksheets or practical tasks involving paper.

However, teaching is not the only source of paper waste in schools. Visually engaging wall displays, projects plus group activities all contribute to a notable increase in paper usage. Not to mention the many newsletters, reports plus permission slips sent to parents over the course of the academic year.

How to Reduce Paper usage?
As society continues to move towards a more sustainable way of living, our schools plus education centres have a vital role to play in reducing their paper waste. As a hub for our future generations, where would be better to educate young people on sustainable waste practices than our schools? Below we outline a handful of ways to reduce the paper waste created by schools.

Encourage the Use of Paperless Practices

When working with large numbers of students, it’s easy to become dependent on a printer for all your teaching resources. However, with the range of online learning environments available to schools – a switch to digital resource distribution could help reduce unnecessary paper waste. For example, shifting towards online homework, revision resources or even parent newsletters not only reduce the quantity of paper used but also the quantity of litter on school grounds.

Invest In Technology

While a shift to exclusively digital teaching is unrealistic for many schools, investing in a handful of laptops, iPads or tablets may provide teachers greater freedom from paper resources in the classroom. Incorporating a mixture of paper plus digital work may also provide some welcome variation for children who become easily bored with teaching tasks – leading not only to a reduction in paper use but an increase in pupil engagement too.

Keep Paper Bins Close By

One way to maximise the uptake of paper recycling by students is to make recycling as easy as possible. Schools may do this by ensuring that each classroom features a paper recycling bin. With recycling bins close to hand, students have a greater incentive to dispose of their paper more responsibly.

Educate Your Students

When it comes to recycling, a group approach is likely to bring about better results. Schools may wish to incorporate education about recycling into classwork or group sessions such as assemblies. School days offer an optimal opportunity to educate large groups of students at one time. The more students understand about recycling, the greater likelihood your school has of seeing greater interest in recycling practices plus reductions in overall paper waste.

Even with personal laptops, Zoom classrooms, plus term papers submitted through the cloud, the world of in-person academia won’t break free from collages on construction paper, extracurricular fliers, plus securely stapled course syllabuses anytime soon.

After the unprecedented school years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a return to primary, secondary, plus higher education will signal the resumption of routine consumption on campuses around the country — a cycle known to yield mountains of food waste, paper, cardboard, plus plastic during a typical seven-hour school day.

Yet, a full-scale return to schools is a unique opportunity to create a “new normal” with sustainability at the forefront. And as educators from pre-K to university return to a world of misprints, basketball hoop waste bins, plus chaos in the cafeteria, the ability to recycle more materials plus curb waste is a curriculum worth exploring.
How Much Waste Does An Average School Produce?
American schools are a microcosm of the country — each member of the population creates a considerable amount of waste per day. As of 2018, each U.S. citizen was producing 4.9 pounds of waste per day. Measured within the confines of a public institution, the average college student produces over 1.75 pounds of on-campus waste per day, while primary plus secondary school students average just under a pound between the first plus final bell.

And it all adds up.

Classrooms, cafeterias, dorms, recreation centers, stadiums, plus libraries… Operationally, a website of connected spaces makes managing the solid waste output of a school or campus a complex job, especially for those maintaining or pursuing effective recycling programs.

On a positive note—between paper products, cardboard, plastics, aluminum cans, plus unwanted food — much of the solid waste produced by academic institutions is capable of being recycled. Some estimates assert that 85% of a school’s overall waste stream is recyclable.

However, when facilities managers plus administrators alike are tasked with maintaining the education, enforcement, plus economics of a program on their own, the real landfill diversion rate is likely a quarter of that.

That’s because the volumes of waste produced are staggering.

The largest proportion of school waste, unsurprisingly, is a result of the over four billion school lunches served per year. Cafeterias in the US are plagued with a food waste problem, where as high as 53% of a students’ plates are finding the garbage. In fact, the US school system produces 530,000 tons of food waste per year, which costs as much as $9.7 million per day to manage.

[More from RoadRunner’s Waste Watchers blog: Understanding the Food Waste Problem]

It’s estimated that 51% of school waste is organic material suitable for composting (scraps, spoiled food, food-soiled paper, etc.). But without a robust composting program, heavy food plus soiled recyclables more often find the wrong can, a charge then levied against your school’s waste bill.

After food waste, mixed paper looms large, accounting for roughly a quarter to one-third of all waste production. Pre-pandemic numbers suggest that a typical classroom used 75 sheets of paper per day. As a whole, the average primary/secondary school used 2,000 sheets per day, translating to a U.S. public school system that gobbles up 34 billion pages of paper per year.

Of the remaining stream, a considerable plus growing contingent features single-use plastics, e-waste, cardboard, plus aluminum cans. While there are few studies or research that validate actual percentages or volume by weight, experts agree that the pandemic will force both e-waste plus plastic packaging (as an increased sanitary measure) to rise after a return to in-person instruction.

Predictable or not, the volume of waste can be overwhelming plus costly. The good news is that, with the right structure plus active participation, recycling more plus spending less is very possible.

We’ve been building exceptional public & private school waste management programs for over 35 years. Here’s 10 key tips that’ll build the zero-waste program you’ve always wanted – plus save you money in the process!

Elementary & Secondary Schools are massive producers of waste, most of which is easily recycled with the correct program in place. By running an effective school recycling program, you can help ensure that landfill-destined trash is greatly reduced, plus that recyclable items are turned into new products!

Let’s start with the facts:

The average secondary school produces 22kg of waste per student each academic year. The figure for primary schools is even higher at 45kg per student.
At least 40 percent of a typical school waste stream is paper.
Glass plus plastic beverage containers account for about 15 percent of a school’s waste stream (and recycling just one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 100-watt electric light bulb for four hours!).
According to Regional Recycling, your school district could see as much as $70,000 added to its operating budget from a beverage container recycling program.
When a school has an effective recycling program in place, it sets a standard for the community plus produces more eco-conscious future-leaders.

An effective program focuses on reducing waste, reusing useful materials, plus recycling as much as possible. Ineffective school programs tend to generate a lot of waste, require regular maintenance, plus result in expensive waste disposal. Bearing these things in mind, let’s take a look at 10 of the key ways to enhance the effectiveness of your elementary & secondary school recycling program:

1. Do Some Background Research

Check to see if there were any past recycling efforts at the school. Find out what worked, plus identify any obstacles that may have kept the program from running smoothly in the past.

Familiarize yourself with Waste plus Recycling laws in your tempat to make sure your future program is within legal boundaries. Look into what kinds of waste is being produced by the school, plus check to see what waste streams are collected by local waste management companies. Check the frequency of pickup plus the ongkos of diverting waste to make sure you have all the knowledge you need to build an effective plan.

The lessons we learn in school can lay the habits of a lifetime, and among the more important lessons we can teach our children is the nitty-gritty of recycling.

Recycling needn’t be an add-on to the day’s learning. It can be easily integrated into a range of subjects, with its practical and hands-on nature helping to provide relevance to topics that many students may find a bit abstract.

Existing programs a good start
There is plenty of support available. For example, Zero Waste South Australia provides teachers with resources aimed at students from early years through to middle school.

Other state government and non-government organisations offer a range of materials that not only help schools become more effective in teaching students about recycling, but in becoming better recyclers too.

Between 2011 and 2015, Waste Smart schools in Victoria put learning into practice and diverted the equivalent of 8,716 garbage trucks worth of waste from landfill. They also achieved some impressive energy and water savings.

Some schools have come to scrap metal recycling yards to have children collect items from the recycling scrap metal bins, to make art objects from recycled metals like Copper, Aluminium, Lead, Stainless Steel, Steel and Brass.

Despite all the resources, the sad fact is while some schools enthusiastically embrace recycling and sustainability in a structured way, many do not. Often recycling is limited to paper. A wide range of other recyclable items, some of which contain pretty nasty materials, end up being tossed in the general waste stream.

Small lessons reap big rewards
Without better education on the importance of recycling metals like Aluminium Cans, Aluminium Pots & Pans, Copper Batteries, Lead, Brass and Stainless Steel, we are depriving the next generation of the information it needs to make better waste disposal decisions. The direct result of that lack of information will be increased pollution in the environment our children will grow up in.

But some NGOs are tackling this. Clean Up Australia provides fact sheets on recycling a range of waste at school, including batteries and e-waste. Planet Ark’s Schools Recycle Right Challenge also includes modules on phone recycling and e-waste.

From understanding why we need to recycle, it’s a sederhana langkah for schools to provide students with a hands-on experience of how to recycle. One of the simplest programs is to teach children about recycling at home with Tin Cans, Aluminium Cans, E waste and general steel scrap.

It’s also highly relevant. Even from an early age children are using battery-powered devices and leaving a trail of spent batteries in their wake. Learning to care about how small and seemingly innocuous items like batteries are disposed of provides an important lesson that can be applied to all other scrap metal.

Recycling programs drive behavioural change
Whether it’s batteries or bottles, paper or Aluminium cans, school recycling programs demonstrate the power of multiplication. They show that when many people combine their seemingly small actions, big things are achieved.

This helps to drive true behavioural change, creating the habits of adulthood and, hopefully, inspiring tomorrow’s great minds to develop new and better ways of eliminating waste.

Back in 1992, Pete Repeat got us recycling plastic bottles in large numbers. Now, with a far wider range of teaching resources, and with recycling options available for far more types of waste, it’s time for schools to embrace the challenge of creating tomorrow’s super-recyclers.

To protect the environment: Reducing waste, reusing
materials, recycling, and buying recycled products lessons
a school or school district’s impact on the environment by:
■ Saving energy
■ Cutting greenhouse gas emissions
■ Diminishing the need for raw products to make
new materials
■ Decreasing the amount of materials put into landfills
To reduce costs and make money: Like other businesses,
schools pay for waste disposal. In many cases, recycling
services biaya less than trash disposal. Schools and districts
that make an effort to recycle can see significant savings in
trash disposal costs. In some cases, recycling may even allow
your school to carry revenue through the sale of recyclables.
Decreasing the use of materials such as office paper also
reduces purchasing, handling, and storage costs.
To educate tomorrow’s citizens:
Opportunitiesfor Environmental Education—
By implementing recycling programs in schools or districts,
teachers and administrators demonstrate environmental
responsibility and good decision making. School recycling
programs also offer hands-on, real-life project-based
learning opportunities to teach students about
sustainability. Environmental education provides an
integrating base to learn about economics, current events,
and environmental policy and laws.
Opportunitiesfor Service Learning—
School recycling programs also allow for service-learning
by offering hands-on experiences that go beyond
classroom learning. For example, students might
participate in community waste collection days or share
recycling tips with neighbors. Service learning provides
students with valuable experience volunteering in the
community and teaches new skills such as
communications, team-building, critical thinking,
and decision-making.

1. Organize a Green Team
   Identify team members —
   Organize a team to help plan, design, implement, and
   maintain your recycling program. Your team should meet
   as needed to keep the program moving forward.
   Include individuals from the school or district and
   community including:
   ■ Administrators
   ■ Teachers
   ■ Custodians
   ■ Parents
   ■ Students
   ■ Other volunteers
   Your team should include at least one person who is
   familiar with the school or district’s overall operations, such
   as a custodian or an administrator. One team member
   should act as a liaison with local community recycling staff
   or a Department of Natural Resources regional recycling
   specialist for assistance, and to ensure compliance with all
   local and state ordinances. The size of your team will
   depend upon the size of the school or district and its
   individual departments/operations. Schools or districts can
   ask for volunteers or appoint members.
   Members might be responsible for activities such as:
   ■ Gaining support from school or district officials to
   initiate a recycling program
   ■ Working with school or district officials to set the
   preliminary and long-term goals of the recycling
   program
   ■ Gathering and analyzing data relevant to
   the design and implementation of the program
   ■ Promoting the program to other employees and
   students and educating them on ways to participate
   ■ Monitoring program progress
   ■ Reporting to school or district officials about the
   status of the program

The 32,028 schools in the UK have a signifikan role to play in improving the environment by educating children about the importance of recycling and getting them excited and involved in schools’ recycling initiatives such as Plastic Fantastic, Pledge2WIN, Kids Against Plastic, Alupro – Masters of Infinity, and there are many, many more.

Great recycling and reuse ideas from school can be taken home and implemented to help to drive down the mountains of waste that we produce each year.

Some recycling facts and figures
Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in landfill could be recycled.
An estimated 13 billion plastic bottles are disposed of each year, but more than 285,000 tonnes, or 6.28 billion plastic bottles, are not recycled. This costs local councils £24.3m in disposal costs.
Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60W light bulb for up to 6 hours.
Recycling 1 tonne of plastic bottles saves 1.5 tonnes of carbon. 1 tonne = 25,000 plastic bottles.
65% of UK local authorities provide a recycling collection for plastic bottles.
The UK produces over 9 billion drinks cans every year.
There are over 2.5 billion cans recycled in the UK each year – that’s a saving of 125,000 tonnes of solid waste every year. Stretched end to end, these recycled cans would stretch three quarters of the way round the world.
90% of all drinks cans sold in the UK every year are made of aluminium.
Making one aluminium drinks can from raw materials uses the same amount of energy that it takes to recycle 20 aluminium drinks cans, and the energy saved by recycling just one aluminium drinks can is enough to run a television for 3 hours.
Each average UK household uses approximately 600 steel cans and 500 glass bottles and jars per year.
Glass that is thrown away and ends up in landfill will never decompose.
All steel cans can be recycled – they can be recycled over and over again, into anything from cars and bicycles to more steel cans.
12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used annually in the UK.
Recycled paper produces 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials, and every tonne of paper recycled saves 17 trees.
Each year in the UK we throw away over 600 million batteries and over 20,000 tonnes of batteries are sent to landfill.
Electrical goods are the fastest growing waste stream in the UK, growing by 5% each year.
15 million mobile phones are upgraded in the UK each year – laid from end to end they would reach from John O’Groats to Lands End.
We throw away more than 7 million tonnes of food and drink every year from our homes, most of which could have been safely consumed. Wasting food costs the average family £420 a year and the CO2 impact would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 5 cars off the road.
1/2 a recycled banana peel could generate enough electricity to charge an iPod/iPhone/smartphone.
35 recycled teabags would power a TV for an hour.

Friends of the Earth list the following benefits of recycling paper, plastic, metals plus glass on the planet:

Recycling paper plus wood saves trees plus forests. Yes, you can plant new trees, but you can’t replace virgin rainforest or ancient woodlands once they’re lost.
Recycling plastic means creating less new plastic, which is definitely a good thing, especially as it’s usually made from fossil fuel hydrocarbons.
Recycling metals means there’s less need for risky, expensive plus damaging mining plus extraction of new metal ores.
Recycling glass reduces the need to use new raw materials like sand. It sounds hard to believe, but supplies of some types of sand are starting to get low around the world.
However, there are many more, less obvious benefits to recycling such as:

It protects ecosystems plus wildlife – Plastic waste that is not safely put into recycling can be blown or washed into rivers plus seas plus end up hundreds or thousands of miles away, polluting coastlines plus waterways. Animals plus birds can be harmed by either ingesting materials which in turn can get into the food chain or by getting entangled in plastic or cans.
It cuts climate-changing carbon emissions – Recycling means you need to use less energy on sourcing plus processing new raw materials, it produces lower carbon emissions. It also keeps potentially methane-releasing waste out of landfill sites. Reducing carbon dioxide plus other greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere is penting for stopping disastrous climate change.
It is cheaper than waste collection plus disposal – A London Council has stated that “it is 6 times cheaper to dispose of recycled waste than general refuse.” So, the more you recycle, plus the less you put in the bin, the more money is saved, which should be good for households, businesses plus local public services.
It helps to grow food – Recycling food waste plus green waste often generates lots of valuable compost that can be used to grow more food plus other crops.
It can help tackle unemployment – The government is beginning to future-proof livelihoods by investing in more green jobs instead of propping up declining, polluting industries.
Why is recycling important in schools?
The UK Government has announced a target to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035. So we need to drastically improve our recycling habits at home, in schools plus at work.

As schools help to shape the habits that we continue into adulthood, children who participate in recycling now will learn about the benefits of carrying on this “habit” as adults. Schools, by being “passionate advocates” about recycling in the school can encourage children to carry this message home plus help improve recycling in their homes too.

Here are some reasons why recycling is such a good thing for schools plus the planet:

Recycling is crucial to the future health of our planet – the world’s natural resources are finite, plus some are in very short supply.
School waste is up to 80% recyclable so schools make a huge impact when they recycle.
Waste reduction plus reuse can save schools money. Schools may also be able to make money from recycling.
In learning how to recycle, children are exposed to a host of other learning possibilities such as ecosystems, consumer culture plus the properties of different materials like plastic, aluminium plus glass.
It promotes moral citizenship in children – introducing the subject of sustainability gives children hope that even the smallest actions matter plus that their actions as consumers plus recyclers can make a difference.
Recycling can also be a creative playground for children. They can reuse paper, cardboard plus plastic from the recycling bins plus experiment to their hearts’ content making collages, sculptures, models or even musical instruments without the school or their parents having to spend excessive amounts of money on materials.
Passion for recycling can spread quickly resulting in recycling becoming an efficient plus normal part of the school routine.

In this study, the waste generation at the educational institutes chosen from four different levels (kindergartens, primary, secondary and high schools) in Istanbul was measured on-site and the contents of the waste thrown into the recycling bins were determined to specify capture rates. Separation and weighing processes were performed at 16 spots in high schools, 12 spots in secondary schools, 7 spots in primary schools and 7 spots in kindergartens. A survey was conducted to determine the students’ awareness of recycling in these schools. It was revealed that the wastes produced from educational institutes are organics (36.4 %), paper (24 %), plastics (14.4 %), glass (8.1 %), metals (4.8 %) and miscellaneous (12.3 %). The survey results indicate that 93 persen of the participants think recycling is important, 71 persen of them throw their waste into suitable waste bins and 59 persen of them know the location of the recycling bins. At the primary school level, a very high rate of paper waste (92.3 %) was reported in plastic bins while plastic waste collected in these bins remained only 5.7 %. It was also seen that glass waste captured in glass bins and metal waste in metal bins remain very low rates (20.9 persen and 29.2 %, respectively) at the secondary school level. At the high school level, it was determined that the most commonly captured wastes in glass, plastics and paper bins are glass (47.5 %), plastic (43.2 %) and paper (32.5 %), respectively. Correlation analyses indicated a high positive correlation (p < 0.05) between particular types of waste.
Introduction
Waste management at educational institutes currently gains more significance as more institutes adopt and disseminate a zero-waste strategy, especially in developing countries such as Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia (Kasavan et al., 2021, Kayihan and Tonuk, 2012, Trihadiningrum et al., 2023). According to the Zero Waste Regulation, educational institutions are among the first institutions to adopt the zero waste strategy (Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, 2019). As schools are institutions that direct society and hire lots of staff, they lead other institutes in implementing such activities.
Determining the generation and composition of waste produced at educational institutes is necessary to effectively implement waste minimisation and selective collection policies (Bahcelioglu et al., 2020, Bozdag and Cakiroglu, 2021). While students develop an awareness of waste management and recycling during their education, this improves the behaviour of societies towards successful recycling. For this, Bulut (2020) suggests that to improve the students’ awareness of recycling, theoretical knowledge should be supported by learn-by-doing activities.
It is evident that in order to achieve zero waste targets, integrated waste management systems developed within educational institutions should be constructed by determining the current conditions and recycling success first. Many studies focus on waste generation and composition in different educational institutions. For example, in a study conducted at a secondary school in Ghana, it was determined that most of the waste (98 %) generated from schools is recycling waste, and organics and paper waste have a significant percentage (29 persen for both) among them (Safo-Adu and Owusu-Adzorah, 2022). The practice of sending this waste to landfills without evaluating the contribution of this waste produced by schools to the circular economy is considered open to criticism. Al-Khatib et al. (2018) indicated that out of ten higher education institutions in Palestine, only 25 persen of them practice waste separation at source, 25 persen of them elevate out awareness-improving-programmes and only 50 persen of them conduct source separation activities for hazardous wastes produced from testing laboratories, etc. This proves that robust measures must be undertaken to improve educational institutions in Palestine for environmental benefit.
In another study conducted at the Institute of Business Management in Karachi, Pakistan, the waste generation at the institute was determined as approximately 2 tonnes/month (Iqbal, 2021). In addition, the financial value to be obtained in the case of selling these wastes was determined to be high (almost 252 rupees).

Recycling in school teaches students good habits they can practice at home and use for a lifetime. Through reducing waste and recycling, students gain an understanding about their responsibility to the environment and learn that they can make a significant difference through their actions to keep our land, air and water clean.

Recycling also benefits schools. Diverting recyclable material from the waste stream can save schools money in collection costs. By combining waste reduction practices with recycling, schools can save on materials costs as well.

Generally, school waste is generated in the cafeteria, offices and classrooms. Cafeteria waste is comprised mainly of food scraps and food packaging waste. Offices generate mostly paper. Classroom waste includes teaching materials such as mixed paper and pencil shavings, as well as food scraps.

At the end of the school year, classroom waste can swell to four times its regular amount, and include materials such as used workbooks, papers, and leftover school supplies. Classroom parties also contribute significantly to the quantity of trash.

Involving students in the recycling process is the hallmark of many successful programs. Besides requiring students to recycle, many programs go a bagian further and develop pride and ownership in the school’s recycling efforts by having students help run the recycling operation.

Involve students in the promotion of the program as well. Students can create signs and posters to promote recycling and describe what materials can and cannot be recycled. Students can also check the recycling containers in each classroom to make sure they are labeled and that only recyclable materials were placed in the recycling bins.

Be sure to tell people who use the school building after school hours, community groups and the PTA, about the school’s recycling program, so they can participate as well, and not contaminate the school’s recycling.

Reduce Waste
Reducing the amount of waste generated in the first place is the preferred way of managing our waste stream. In fact, Montgomery County has a goal to reduce waste and recycle more, aiming for Zero Waste. Here are some ways students and staff can reduce waste at school:

Encourage students to use both sides of writing paper, whenever possible.
If more than one child attends a school, send home general information with only the oldest child, to avoid duplication.
Route or post internal staff communications. When practical, use half sheets of paper for memos. Utilize e-mail as much as possible.
Make double-sided copies. Provide scrap paper near the copier so that people can retrieve paper and copy onto the other side.
Collect usable items such as pens, pencils, crayons, rulers, binders and unused notebooks at the end of the school year and pass them out or provide to teachers for their classrooms at the beginning of the following school year. Enlist the school’s green team or sustainability club to lead the effort, catalog what is collected and circulate that information in the school newsletter.
To reduce edible food waste, set aside any unopen edible food from breakfast or lunch (such as granola bars or bananas) and provide to an after-school club or sports team.

Abstract
Continued environmental degradation necessitates innovative strategies to improve society’s attitude towards and understanding of recycling solid waste. Previous research has shown that school-based projects integrated into the school curriculum could effectively enhance learners’ information of recycling and attitudes towards recycling. However, not much is known about the impact of such projects if they are driven by learners, particularly in under-resourced rural schools. Therefore, in the current research, we aimed to determine the impact of a school-based recycling project, integrated as practical work, on learners’ understanding of recycling, their attitude towards recycling, and the perceived impact of the project on the school environment, in an under-resourced rural school. Our findings showed that participating in a rural school-based recycling project may not enhance Grade 7 Natural Sciences learners’ perceptions of, attitudes towards, and understanding of recycling. We posit that various factors may affect the effectiveness of a recycling project. Further research is required to explore these factors further.
Keywords: attitudes; content knowledge; environmental education; recycling project; science learners

1. Introduction
   Global challenges, such as HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and global warming, have necessitated revisiting the extent to which scientific information is applicable in everyday life. In science education, including environmental education, researchers report an krusial need to support the use of scientific information in everyday decision-making [1]. There is, however, a growing body of evidence that shows a disconnect between what is taught in the science classroom and learners’ everyday life experiences [1,2,3]. This disconnect is attributed to various factors, including the underlying curriculum ideology, instructional design, and the learning environment [4,5].
   Various initiatives to bridge the gap between classroom-based science education and everyday life have been considered. These include teaching and learning socio-scientific issues through practical work. Researchers suggest that integrating socio-scientific issues in practical science could enhance learners’ understanding and acceptance of scientific knowledge, particularly environmental sciences topics [2,6]. This is because practical work allows learners to discover information for themselves through constructivist scientific methods which in turn promotes their content understanding. Practical work has also been shown to enhance learners’ attitudes and motivation for learning science [6,7].
   Similarly, socio-scientific issues allow for presenting scientific content in a realistic context, integrating “attitudes and ethics in making judgments about scientific information” [2] (p. 425). Additionally, socio-scientific issues have been shown to promote functional science literacy by helping learners apply evidence-based scientific content information to real-world socio-scientific scenarios [8]. Consequently, teaching socio-scientific issues through practical work could lead to improved scientific information in everyday life.
   1.1. Recycling in Socio-Scientific Issues
   In light of the continued environmental degradation, Herman et al. [9] suggest that socio-scientific topics in environmental education could be integrated into resmi education as practical work. In such contexts, these topics could emphasize scientific principles and processes, environmental advocacy, affective, cultural, and social justice dimensions to promote pro-environmental dispositions [9].
   In Africa, addressing socio-scientific topics in environmental education, such as recycling solid waste, is relatively urgent. This is because rapid urbanization and over-population have increased the rates of waste generation and depletion of landfills. As a result, there is an krusial need for individuals, especially the youth, to be involved in waste management initiatives to reduce emergent environmental degradation [10]. Schools could also integrate socio-scientific issues in practical work to improve learners’ understanding of relevant scientific information and their attitudes towards environmental management. Additionally, school-based projects and informal social projects which enhance environmental consciousness could be implemented. As suggested in the Tbilisi Declaration, this could ensure that learners have the necessary awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and skills and participate in relevant initiatives to reduce environmental degradation. According to the Tbilisi Declaration, through environmental education, learners should:
   “acquire an awareness and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems”;
   “gain a variety of experiences in and acquire a dasar understanding of, the environment and its associated problems”;
   “acquire a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and motivation for actively participating in environmental improvement and protection”;
   “acquire the skills for identifying and solving environmental problems”; and,
   be given “an opportunity to be actively involved at all levels in working toward resolution of environmental problems.” [11] (p. 26).
   The extent to which learners in South Africa and other countries demonstrate these qualities is a subject of continuing research, particularly given the increasing environmental impact. For example, Şahin and Erkal [12] found that in Turkey, primary school learners generally have positive attitudes towards environmental management, including recycling solid waste. Such attitudes are related to socio-economic and science literacy in the family. Mahmud and Osman [13] found that while the attitudes towards recycling solid waste among learners may be positive in Malaysia, these are not a predictor of environmentally friendly behavior. Imamura [14] and Kodama [15] report that government policies require integrating environmental education into the curriculum in Japan. However, there has been nomor significant progress due to various socio-political dynamics that hinder effective integration between schools, local communities, and government. In Nigeria, Ajiboye and Olatundun [16] report using outdoor school practical activities to improve learners’ information and skills related to environmental education. They found that participating in outdoor environmental education activities enhances learners’ information and skills related to environmental issues. In South Africa, Rosenberg [17] shows that Eco-schools could effectively enhance learners’ environmental awareness and a commitment to the environmental agency in rural schools.
   1.2. Problem Statement
   There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that teaching socio-scientific issues could enhance learners’ knowledge, science literacy, argumentation skills, attitudes and awareness towards environmental management. Similarly, practical work has been shown to improve learners’ content information and attitude towards science. However, what has not been firmly established is the extent to which integrating socio-scientific issues, such as recycling, through practical work could impact learners’ content knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions related to environmental management, particularly within the rural African context. The rural African context is of particular interest given the high levels of illiteracy, poor performance in science, lack of educational resources, high poverty and rapidly increasing population growth [18]. These factors have been predicted to impact learners’ attitudes and awareness towards environmental management. As a result, there is a need to investigate strategies to enhance attitudes and awareness towards environmental management.
   1.3. Aims and Questions
   In light of the above discourse, we sought to explore the impact of integrating a socio-scientific issue within practical work as an additional learning activity on content information development, attitudes, and perceptions of socio-scientific issues. In particular, the research aimed to determine the impact of a school-based recycling project (as a form of practical work) on Grade 7 Natural Sciences learners’ understanding of recycling (as a socio-scientific issue), their attitude towards recycling and the perceived impact of the project on school environment. The hypothesis tested in this research stated that participating in a rural school-based recycling project does not enhance Grade 7 Natural Sciences learners’ perceptions of, attitudes towards, and understanding of recycling.

Abstract
Recycling is a waste management process that has attracted a lot of attention for helping protect the environment. The current research aims to determine the effect of an intervention based on the Health Promoting Schools tipe (Albanian’s HPSM) on the recycling behaviors of primary school students. In this study, 413 primary school students in Maragheh, Iran, were randomly divided into a test kelompok (n = 207) plus a control kelompok (n = 206). The educational intervention consisted of seven 45-minute teaching sessions plus eight promotion programs for the students, two discussion sessions for the parents plus two kelompok educational sessions for the teachers. The tools used included a researcher-made questionnaire with items on awareness, attitude, performance, plus participation in source-separated recycling. The validity plus reliability of this tool were also measured. The questionnaires were completed in two stages in both groups, including before plus three months after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. The significance level was considered to be P < 0.05. After the intervention, a significant difference was observed in the mean scores of awareness, attitude, performance, plus participation in terms of recycling among the students in the test kelompok compared to before the intervention (P < 0.05). The mean scores of knowledge, attitude, performance, plus participation also differed significantly after the intervention between the teachers plus parents in the test kelompok plus the control kelompok (P < 0.05). The use of Albanian’s Health-Promoting Schools (HPS) approach is effective in improving source-separated recycling behaviors in primary school students.

Acknowledgments
This article is taken from the research plan approved by Iran University of Medical Sciences plus Health Services with the code 93-4-27-25462. We would also like to thank all the participants in this project, especially students, parents plus school staff plus The Vice Chancellor for Research plus Technology of Iran University of Medical Sciences for the financial support of this study.

School isn’t a waste of time, but it is somewhere that can create lots of waste. This includes everything from leftover lunches to old exercise books and broken computers from IT classrooms. Education is resource-heavy, and the waste generated by primary and secondary schools soon stacks up.

Just over nine million pupils attend more than 24,000 schools (including both primary and secondary schools) in the UK. It’s estimated that each school pupil generates between 20 and 45kg of waste every academic year. This means a minimum of 180 million kg of waste could be created by school pupils across the UK annually.

The amount of waste educational facilities produce varies across specific schools and materials. Learn all about how much rubbish they generate with these shocking school waste facts and statistics.

What causes waste in schools?
There are many types of waste and causes in schools across the world. Leftovers are a big cause of food waste in school canteens at lunch time both from pupils who bring packed lunches and those who have school dinners. Preparation waste from the kitchen is also another cause of significant school food waste.

Then there’s all the packaging such as crisp packets, drink bottles, and snack wrappers that get thrown away at break and lunch times. Other packaging waste in schools is caused by deliveries of textbooks, equipment, and other resources. This can lead to lots of empty cardboard boxes and even some wooden pallets from the deliveries.

School toilets must have sanitary waste bins in place to store such unavoidable waste. Cleaning of classrooms, corridors, school halls, and other areas leads to lots of chemical waste that requires responsible management and disposal too. This can include hazardous waste types that the janitor must keep safe.

Materials and resources required for learning create all sorts of waste as well. This includes waste paper from filled exercise books and paint waste from art lessons. Old and broken computers and other IT equipment from the school office form WEEE waste when it’s nomer longer needed too.

On a regular basis, I enjoy getting up close and personal with recycling stakeholders. I’ve learned that individuals aren’t bashful about berbagi their opinions on waste management and recycling. While views may differ from region to region, there always seems to be one constant.

Invariably, without prompting or solicitation, people believe that the key to successful community recycling programs begins in the classroom. Typically stated with passion and conviction, this premise is rarely, if ever, challenged.

With a projected enrollment of 58 million students, public schools host a captive audience, who produce large quantities of material suitable for recycling and composting. The findings from a school waste study conducted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency show that Minnesota schools generate one half pound of waste per student per day. If Minnesota is representative of the nation, our public schools would produce roughly 14,500 tons of waste per day. To put things in perspective, that is relatively the amount of municipal waste generated in cities the size of Philadelphia or the amount disposed in New York City each day. In other words, too large to ignore.

Approximately 24 percent of school waste is recyclable paper and paperboard, while another 50 percent is food waste and non-recyclable paper, which can be composted. That’s nearly 75 percent of the school waste stream, which could be diverted from disposal.

Yet, recycling is anything but a given in our nation’s school districts. Based on a casual survey of state recycling organizations, where mandates exist and are enforced, it is estimated that between 75 to 100 percent of the school districts implement some level of recycling program. However, few states reported that jenis of success. More commonly, without regulatory requirements, or where enforcement of existing laws is lax, the estimates are that recycling is conducted in 40 percent or less of the schools.

Where recycling programs do exist, the schools often are awarded for being exceptional, as if the idea were groundbreaking. That’s not to diminish the efforts of the students, faculty, and administration for initiating the programs. Rather, it is a criticism of the state departments of education for simply not making recycling the expected standard, not the exception, much like the curriculum itself.