How much does your school waste?

How much does your school waste?

Before setting up a recycling system it's a good idea to find out what your school is currently throwing away. A waste audit is a great way to get an understanding of how much of each type of material your school throws away and will provide information to help you and your students to answer the following questions:

We did a waste audit and I was really surprised how much our school throws away and how many different materials we could have recycled.

Thomas, aged 16, student
Ashfield Secondary School

Where does your school produce most of its waste?

Establishing where certain types of waste are produced in your school will enable you to position your recycling points effectively.
Remember, it’s not just classrooms that produce waste.  Include all indoor and outdoor areas of the school (e.g. office, staff room, canteen and playground) to ensure the scheme is most effective.

How much waste does your school produce?

It can be hard to visualise just how much waste your school produces, and the sources of the waste can also be surprising. The average secondary school produces 22kg of waste per pupil each academic year. The figure for primary schools is even higher at 45kg per pupil. How do you compare?

What types of waste are produced?

Most of the waste by weight from schools comes from just two categories:

  • Paper and card
  • Food waste

Knowing roughly how much of each material your school produces will help you to prioritise which materials to recycle and can help to plan what size bins your school will need. The information you gain from the waste audit will help you to work out which recycling collection could be most effective for your school.

Share this:
START RECYCLING

Top tips

  1. Have a recycling point in every room

    Don’t forget non-teaching areas like the office, staff room and kitchen

  2. Put rubbish bins and recycling points together

    This makes it as easy to recycle as it is to throw something away

  3. Keep people informed

    Make sure everyone knows what can be recycled at school and why it is important to recycle

  4. Label recycling points and waste bins clearly

    This will help avoid the wrong things being put in the wrong bin

  5. Set up a rota

    Set up a rota for emptying the recycling point

  6. Monitor your recycling scheme

    Watch out for any decline in recycling levels. For example, you could keep a record of how full your external recycling bin is each week.

  7. Have regular recycling reports

    Report at assemblies and display amounts of recycling collected on a notice board to keep everyone informed and motivated.

  8. Motivate teachers to lead by example

    Recycle as much as possible and encourage pupils to get involved.

  9. Involve cleaning and support staff

    Ensure cleaning and support staff are informed of changes which affect them and let them know how important their role is.

  10. Spread your success

    Tell other people about successes, especially parents and the local press and praise all the teams involved

Further Information

Cover of document - "Report into the nature and scale of waste produced by schools in England" © WRAP

 ‘The nature and scale of waste produced by schools in England’ report.