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).