Case study
Recycling multiple materials in our school
School details
- School name: Tamarside Community College
- Town: Plymouth
- Age range of pupils: 11-18
- Number of pupils: 1,300
- Number of staff: 200
Reasons for recycling
Recycling was introduced as a first step to address the school’s impact on the environment and enable students to learn how they could make a difference through small, simple actions.
Approach
“I e-mail the teachers every Friday morning and ask them to leave their recycling bag outside their classroom. On Friday afternoons, the Recycling Co-ordinators collect the bags and we sort out any non-recyclable waste before emptying the bags into our bin outside. It’s amazing how much waste we produce as a college. I’m glad that, by recycling, we can reduce our impact on the environment.”
Plymouth City Council sent out a leaflet introducing the school recycling services, and a keen teacher took the initiative to set up a recycling system with a Year 11 class in 2006. The council’s Waste Project Officer provided step by step guidance to implement a paper, cardboard and plastic recycling scheme and provided collection bags for all classrooms and offices. Students of all ages in the school’s ‘Green Team’ take it in turns to e-mail the teachers to remind them to recycle. The Green Team are responsible for collecting the recycling from the classrooms and removing any non-recyclable materials. They are supervised by a Recycling Co-ordinator, and the council empties the large external containers every Tuesday.
Outcome
The scheme has raised staff and student awareness around waste, with a particular focus on waste reduction and recycling. Everyone is encouraged to focus on the positive contributions individuals can make to help the environment.
Setting up the recycling scheme with the help of the council, as part of their school recycling collection, was easy and straightforward.
Many other sustainability initiatives have emerged since the college set up its recycling system, for example, students have set up a wildflower garden, bird feeder and nesting boxes, and honoured special events like the UN Peace Day with tree planting activities and regular presentations of Citizenship medals.
Details of recycling scheme
Materials recycled:
Paper, cardboard and plastic
Containers used:
Durable recycling bags
Who collects your school’s recycling:
Local authority (Plymouth City Council)
Frequency of collection:
Weekly
Date/year the recycling scheme was introduced:
2006
Tamarside Community College's Top tips
- Ask pupils to volunteer to be responsible for organising the recycling
- Make sure recycling collection bags or boxes are available in all areas of the school