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.