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School Recycling Information

Your school can be a valuable source of recyclable materials, but you need to make sure those materials have somewhere to go. Finding a home for your recyclables will be the first step in the recycling process. The next step will be to collect the particular item you are interested in recycling. Then intermediate processors (like the Recycling Bank of Gwinnett in Duluth) will take the recyclables you collect and recover the raw materials. Finally, you must find a way to sustain your program.

Unless your collection program is coordinated with the next step in the recycling process, it will be just that: a collection program. You must have someone ready to accept materials from your school before you can design a recycling program.

▪ Make sure you have the support of your administrator prior to proceeding with any type of recycling program. Also, make certain your program is integrated into the academic knowledge and skills curriculum.

▪ With the help of your administrator, put together a Recycling Committee to help you design, implement, and monitor your school’s program. Consider bringing together teachers, administrative staff, parents, custodial staff, cafeteria staff, and student representatives.

▪ Before you begin with collecting any item for recycling, you will need to understand some recycling basics and gather some facts.

Learning The Basics

Use this information to improve your current school recycling efforts or to develop a new program.

1. Gather the Facts

Why is recycling important?

• Saves Energy – It usually takes less energy to make recycled products; recycled aluminum, for example, takes 95% less energy than new aluminum from bauxite ore.

• Saves Landfill Space – When the materials that you recycle go into new products, they don’t go into landfills or incinerators, so landfill space is conserved.

• Saves Clean Air and Water – In most cases, making products from recycled materials creates less air and water pollution than making products from virgin materials.

• Recycling saves natural resources and natural areas. Products made from recycled material slow the depletion of non-renewable resources such as metal ores, oil, and natural gas, and reduce the encroachment of new mining and drilling operations on sensitive lands.

• Recycling provides raw materials for industry. Georgia is home to the nation’s largest single user of recycled PET (#1) plastic ~ the carpet industry. Five 2-liter PET plastic soda bottles yield enough fibers to be sewn into one square foot of carpet, or an extra large T-shirt. (Source: Georgia Department of Community Affairs)

• Recycling creates jobs. The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive estimates that recycling and remanufacturing industries account for approximately one million manufacturing jobs and more than $100 billion in revenue. (Source: EPA) In Georgia, recycling industries add over 3 billion dollars in value to the materials that they process, employing over 23,000 Georgians. (Source: Southern States Energy Board)

TIP: Create a recycling notebook of all your local contacts, participating staff members, grants or in-kind donations, and a general history of your recycling program (events, activities, competitions, etc.). This notebook will provide important information for others to use as key people to your recycling program leave the school. Sustaining a recycling program can be a challenge in some schools.

*Also remember to keep your Environmental Profile document handy as a reference and to help capture pertinent information.

Identify recyclables

Conducting an assessment of your school’s waste can demonstrate the type, quality and/or origin of the potential recyclable materials. This information can assist your team with formulating school recycling goals and procurement of recycling containers and other needed materials. Some schools opt to skip this step, as the team has already identified a specific item abundant in the waste steam. If you choose to conduct an assessment, realize there are many templates available to conduct a thorough solid waste audit.

The intent here is to merely give a basic example of a simple audit formula. The assessment should be completed by the students with guidance from a teacher(s) and can be done by recording the contents of an individual classroom and/or office wastebasket. Each classroom or a sampling of classrooms can participate in an assessment by sorting and weighing discarded trash. Once the trash is sorted and weighed, it can be multiplied by the number of classrooms for an estimate of the amount of trash and recyclable materials being discarded. Adding the waste from the media center, computer labs, offices, cafeteria, teacher workrooms, and other parts of your school will lead to a more accurate estimate of the total amount and type of waste in your school.

Contact Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful at bmcdaniel@ or 770-822-5187 for more detailed information about how to conduct a solid waste audit.

Determine what materials to collect

Currently there is no countywide pick up service for recyclables at the schools, other than for newspaper and classroom/office paper.

Recycling newspaper and classroom/office paper is a great place to begin with your recycling program, as almost 40% of the waste stream is paper and paper products. Any Gwinnett County public school is able to recycle newspapers and classroom paper at no extra cost to the school. A large green and red recycling bin is placed on your school campus. GC&B can assist with you with what types of classroom/office paper can be placed in the bin (in addition to newspaper). Your school will receive a small amount of revenue for the newspaper/classroom paper collected based on weight. Normally this money is placed in the “general” fund at the school; but oftentimes, arrangements can be made to have the revenue allocated for other environmental programs. Some schools even purchase plastic recycling bins for each classroom. Visit Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful’s website at for a list of recycling drop-off centers.

*Note – Currently, any other product you collect for recycling will have some costs associated with it. Costs could include: labor (handling and disposal), collection bin of some sort, and transportation to a recycling facility.

2. Design a Program

Organize collection and transportation procedures

With the help of the custodial staff, determine how many bins to make and/or purchase and “map out” the ideal placement of the recycling containers in your school. Share the map and solicit feedback from the school administration, other teachers, parents, and students.

|TIP: Have the students map the school and recycling locations as part of a social studies lesson in mapping. |

Considerations for storage and collection systems for recyclable materials:

• Does the school have space to use for collection and storage?

• What type of collection containers will be needed for the classrooms, halls, media center, etc.?

• How will the recyclable materials be moved from the classrooms to the collection and storage areas?

• Who will be responsible for moving the recyclables from central locations (media center, teacher workrooms, copy room) to the storage area?

• How will contamination, like food waste, be prevented?

• When designing or purchasing bins, make sure they are well marked and/or eye catching.

• With the exception of paper, which IS picked up at the school, most schools recruit a teacher, parent, or custodian who will take the collected materials to a recycling center (visit GC&B website for list of recycling centers).

• The recycling team should determine how to handle holiday and summer vacation recycling

Common set-up for classroom paper recycling:

Most schools that recycle classroom paper have a box in each classroom. Large, heavy-duty, cardboard boxes (Xerox paper boxes work well) are often used. Some teachers opt to have the students decorate the boxes/bins. In addition to the individual classroom bins, larger rolling bins are used, which can be pushed to the main storage bin. “School Recyclers” (Maybe a group of 5th graders, special needs class, environmental club members, etc.) pick up the classroom boxes when full and then place “all” the classroom paper into large trash bags, which are then placed in the red/green newspaper recycling bin. If recyclable materials are going to be stored indoors, make sure your principal is aware of compliance issues with the State of Georgia and local fire codes.

*Note: At this time, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful does not have recycling bins to distribute; however, we are happy to provide you with a list of vendors. A local source for purchasing bins: Rehrig Pacific in Lawrenceville -770-339-9888.

Evaluate costs

Most schools invest very little money at the beginning of their recycling efforts, but remember there ARE costs associated with recycling most items. Some start-up costs might include: recycling containers/bins, signage, staff and teacher training, custodial needs, and awards/incentives.

|TIP: Periodically, grant funding opportunities can be found for recycling programs at the Georgia Recycling Coalition’s website, |

| or through the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation, (click grant application and awards). You |

|school business partner might be able to assist you with recycling bins or other in-kind support of your program. |

3. Start It Up

Phase-in

For smaller schools, it may be possible to start the recycling program all at once. For larger schools, begin with a short pilot or test program in a cluster of classrooms or offices. This will help the recycling “team” monitor response to the program, assess the amount of recyclables collected, and address specific contamination issues.

Common contaminants include:

• Food and items covered with food waste, such as cups and plates

• Pencils, pens, and other classroom supplies

• Tapes, glues, and adhesive labels

• Plastic coated envelopes, computer discs, transparencies, paper clips

Hold a kick-off event

When you’re ready to begin the program, start with a kick-off event that includes students, faculty, custodial staff, parents, and community leaders. You might even use a local and/or national event to launch or promote your recycling program (America Recycles Day -November 15 or Earth Day- April 22). This is an opportunity to build awareness, encourage program ownership, and educate your audience about what and how to recycle.

Involve Students

Student participation will help generate enthusiasm for the program. Encourage students to monitor specific bins and assist with the collection of recyclables.

4. Education is Essential

This is a CRITICAL step for the success of a sustainable school recycling program. Don’t forget to capture all your information on your school’s

Environmental Achievement Profile.

An environmentally conscious team and school are critically important to your recycling program. When your program is approved, planned, and ready to implement, it is important to educate your student body, teachers, school staff, and parents about the benefits and logistics of the program.

TIP: Creating a recycling logo, slogan, and/or theme is a creative and unified way to promote your program. This can be incorporated into the art and/or technology curriculum.

The entire school will need information on what to recycle, as well as the location of the collection bins. The committee/group in charge of the recycling program can make presentations to the faculty and students OR you can schedule an inservice from GC&B. An educator will come to your school and inservice your faculty on the specifics of your recycling program. Remember that each school year students, teachers, and parents will need information about the program. Most importantly, recycling programs should be correlated to the existing AKS curriculum to ensure sustainability and to provide justification to school district and parents.

Create a unique way to promote your school’s recycling program. Promotion ideas are as follows:

• Make presentations – invite local recycling educators to speak to faculty and/or students and demonstrate recycling procedures

• Share information- use the school newspaper, website, email, closed circuit TV, and student orientation to reinforce the importance of recycling at school

• Use peer education- have older students teach younger classes about the school recycling program

• Focus on teachers – teacher acceptance and understanding of the program will help educate students. Use staff meetings, grade level meetings, written communications, and in-service days to educate teachers about the program

• Engage students – organize a contest for the recycling program (slogan, most enthusiastic, etc). Allow students to decorate a school hallway or bulletin board with educational information

• Monitor recycling bins – inspect bins regularly and create a system to remind students and faculty about appropriate recyclable materials

• Reinforce – take every opportunity to communicate the progress and success of the recycling program and praise positive actions

5. Evaluate and Share Results

Keep track

Track results to evaluate program value. Work with the recycling company to gather information such as:

• Amount of material that is recovered for recycling. This amount is typically reported in tons, although measuring in pounds may be more realistic. Compare waste collection before and after implementing the recycling program to get data on the amount of material being diverted from disposal.

• Expenses and cost-savings. Start up costs such as bins, teacher and student education and awareness activities may be offset or covered by a decrease in material going to disposal.

• Program acceptance and participation. Consider providing a survey to teachers, students, and parents for ideas about improving your program (example survey items: container appearance, use, and location; adequate education/promotion; collection frequency, etc.) Even the bet thought-out program won’t work if student and teachers don’t buy into the program. Students and teachers have to be excited about recycling and understand how the program works. People need a reason to recycle, so you must effectively communicate the many reasons to the students, staff, and faculty.

Publicize successes

Positive feedback motivates participants to keep recycling:

Students and teachers – keep a running total and post monthly recycling figures to make students and faculty aware of the results of their efforts. Recognize recycling champions at school gatherings, faculty meetings, and in the school newspaper or website.

The community – provide regular updates to parents and community residents, as well as Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful about program activities and successes through newspaper articles, community and school events, and presentations to parent organizations.

Awards - You might consider recognition awards for outstanding teacher, class, and/or grade level recyclers. In addition, recognition and appreciation should be given to the recycling team members. You should also document this in your school’s Environmental Achievement Profile (available from GC&B or from your school’s teacher and/or PTA environmental representative(s). Consider applying for local, state, and/or national award program to recognize your school’s recycling program. Watch for GC&B’s annual award nomination form, usually available in the fall on the website: , or by contacting your school’s environmental teacher/PTA representatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to do a recycling “drive” for a particular item?

Sure, as long as you clearly communicate the start and end date of your “drive.” One school advertises its aluminum can “drive” on the marquee and coordinates the drive dates with special PTA programs. When collecting items for a “drive,” the key is communication. Make certain your school community knows when and where to drop off the designated item. Also make sure your informational piece clearly states when the drop off for the item is over. You don’t want parents to continue dropping off athletic shoes for weeks after you’ve stopped your drive.

Can we recycle items not traditionally collected for recycling?

REMEMBER, locate a market (someone who wants the items) before you begin collecting items such as: cell phones, eyeglasses, inkjet cartridges, athletic shoes, etc.

How can we recycle our cardboard, which is quite abundant at schools?

With the ongoing concern over the amount of cardboard at schools, several schools have opted to purchase a recycling bin for cardboard. The bin is placed at the school and picked up, as needed, by the company servicing the bin. The cost for the bin is usually paid for by the revenue received from the newspaper/paper, or from fundraiser money that has been allocated to environmental efforts. If securing a cardboard bin is not an option, then you will need to recruit someone to flatten the boxes and transport them to a recycling center.

Our paper/newspaper bin is overflowing. Who do I call?

Contact Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful at 770-822-5187 and ask for the administrative assistant for guidance. Let him/her know your name, the name of your school, and a contact phone number. GC&B will then contact the recycling company and ask that your school’s bin be emptied.

Do you have suggestions on where in our school we should place our recycling bins?

Depends on the item you are recycling. Just remember, it needs to be easy and convenient for teachers/parents to access. Some general guidelines for bin placement include:

• Recyclable materials should not be stored in the boiler room or near electrical equipment

• Indoor recyclable storage containers should be located in a room with a sprinkler system

• Visible or easy access/location for students, teachers, parents, and staff

• Location inaccessible to animals

• Classroom containers should be emptied as often as possible

Does GC&B have a list of recycling “facts” that we can use over our closed circuit system to generate interest in our recycling program?

Recycling Fun Facts are a great way to generate interest in your program. Below are a few fun facts to get you started:

• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for 3 hours about 18 million homes) for one year

• Over 120, 000 aluminum cans are recycled every minute in the United States

• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to manufacture 19 more

• When you recycle your used paper, paper mills will use it to make new newspaper, notebook paper, paper grocery bags, corrugated boxes, envelopes, magazines, and cartons. Recycled paper is also used to make things you may not have thought of, such as animal bedding, compost, kitty litter, and insulation

• Recycling a three-foot high stack of newspaper saves one tree

• People that live in the United States represent only 5% of the world’s population, but generate 30% of the world’s garbage

• Recycling a glass bottle can save enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours

• Every ton of paper that gets recycled saves enough energy to heat the average home for six months (4100 –kilowatt hours).

• Over 50 different product, ranging from auto parts to fibers and tee shirts, are made from recycled plastic bottles

• Since 1990, nearly 4 million scrap tires have been recycled in GA

Sources: NAPCOR, GA Dept. of Community Affairs, American Plastics Council, Keep America Beautiful, Alcan, Steel Recycling Institute, American Forest & Paper Association, GA Recycling Coalition

Where Can I find Recycling Containers?

Recycling Containers

Contact the recycling container vendors listed below. We do not endorse any of these companies. If you have experience with any recycling container company that is not listed, please contact Brenda McDaniel at bmcdaniel@ and the company will be added to the list.

You can also check local businesses for recycling bins (such as office supply and discount stores).

Rehrig Pacific Company

1000 Raco Court

Lawrenceville, GA 30045

Local Phone: 770-339-9888

(800)-241-9693

e-mail: info@



Plastic, indoor recycling containers (nesting and stacking bins)

Bagit© System

The Bag Connection, Inc.

459 SW 9th Street

Dundee, OR 97115

Phone: 800-622-2448 Fax: 503-538-0418

e-mail: info@

System.htm

Unique recycling containers with stand and bag; variety of products to reduce, reuse and recycle

Barco Products

11 North Batavia Avenue

Batavia, IL 60510

Phone: 800-757-5460 Fax: 630-879-8687

trash.html

Variety of indoor and outdoor recycling bins; can crusher – combined crusher and container for cans; slate top plastic bins made from recycled HDPE (Milk Jugs)

Ecolad Corporation

243 W.Congress; STE.#350

Detriot, MI 48226

Phone: 800-665-6263 or 519-250-0366 Fax: 519-250-0160



Variety of indoor and outdoor recycling containers; can crusher recycling center and Canpactor II

The Fibrex Group Inc.

3734 Cook Boulevard

Chesapeake, VA 23323

Phone: 800-346-4458 Fax: 1-800-444-8380

e-mail: ruben@

products.html

Outdoor Recycling containers are made from 95% post consumer content recycled plastic (milk jugs) and a selection of indoor recycling containers

Maxi Container, Inc.

6000 Caniff

Detroit, Michigan 48212

Phone: 800-727-MAXI Fax: 313-891-6476

e-mail: MaxiRSR@



Variety of metal, plastic, and fiber drums (new and reconditioned)

Idea: Students could decorate the drums for the recycling programs.

Keysan

Phone: 800-969-5397 Fax: 888-834-9090

e-mail: sales@



Variety of plastic, indoor containers

One Earth Corporation West

15517 Comino Real

Surprise, AZ 85374

Phone: 623-556-1160 Fax: 800-335-4913

Toll Free: 800-779-3062



Reusable, cardboard recycling containers (variety of styles)

Toter Incorporated

PO Box 5338

841 Meacham Road

Statesville, NC 28677

Phone: 704-872-8171 Fax: 704-878-0734

Industrial/Commercial/Institutional Sales Division Toll Free Number

800-772-0071

Email: info@



Indoor plastic recycling bins (rollers available on most); customized graphics available

Recycling Products, Inc

P.O. Box 5009

Bradford, Ma. 01835

Phone: 800-875-1735 Fax: 978-372-3953

E-Mail: recycle@



Plastic, indoor recycling containers

The Ultimate Recycling Bins

92 Newark-Pompton Turnpike

Wayne, NJ 07470

Phone: 800-910-4757 Fax: 973- 872-9010



Variety of indoor and outdoor recycling containers; customized orders; paper and plastic bins

United States Plastic Corporation

1390 Neubrecht Rd.

Lima, Ohio 45801-3196

Phone: 800-809-4217     Fax: 800-854-5498



A variety of indoor, plastic bins – mobile round or square, stackable, desk side and station containers

Volunteer Drum

3311 John Sevier Highway

Knoxville, TN 37914

e-mail: info@



Variety of metal, plastic, and fiber drums (new and reconditioned)

Idea: Students could decorate the drums for the recycling programs.

Waste Warriors

3233 Eglinton Avenue E., Unit 105A

Scarborough, ON

M1J 3N6 Canada

Phone: 416-261-0800 Toll Free: 877-432-4365 Fax: 416-261-3275

e-mail: enviroman@



High end, indoor and outdoor steel recycling containers and stations

Windsor Barrel Works

PO Box 47

Kempton, Pennsylvania 19529

Phone: 800-527-7848 Fax: 610-756-6389

e-mail: info@



Variety of indoor and outdoor recycling containers; customized orders; certain containers made from 100% post consumer plastic

|For more information, visit Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful’s website at or call 770-822-5187 |

| |

|Other related documents available upon request: |

|Special Events Recycling |

|Recycling bin vendors |

|Environmental Achievement Profile |

Resources for Recycling Education

Supplementary Curriculum

Waste In Place (WIP), Grades K-5, and Waste: A Hidden Resources (WHR), Grades 6-HS, Keep America Beautiful, Inc., 1997. Collection of waste reduction and recycling activities designed to help students make informed decisions about solid waste issues. These interdisciplinary resources are correlated to Gwinnett’s AKS curriculum and Georgia Performance Standards. Contact GC&B if your school does not have a copy of WIP or WHR. (These are usually kept in a central location such as the media center). These supplementary curriculum guides are only available through a WIP or WHR workshop. Contact GC&B if your school is interested in a workshop.

The Quest for Less, Grades K – 6, Environmental Protection Agency, 2000. This is a teacher’s guide to reducing, reusing, and recycling. Download the guide at epaoswer/osw/kids/quest/index.htm .

Project Learning Tree (PLT) Environmental Education Activity Guide, Pre K-8, American Forest Foundation, 1996. This guide provides hands-on, interdisciplinary activities for students to investigate environmental issues and encourages students to make informed, responsible decisions. This guide is only available through a PLT workshop. Contact GC&B if your school is interested in a workshop.

Toolkit

GC&B Waste Reduction and Recycling Toolkit, lesson plans, fun facts, and lots of examples of reused and recycled materials. Appropriate for grades 2-HS (Available on loan from GC&B)

Web Resources (these are subject to change without notice)

Alcan Aluminum Corporation recycle.

Aluminum Association

America Recycles Day

American Forest and Paper Association

American Plastics Council

Caraustar (local paper market)

Can Manufacturers Institute

Earth Day Network

Earth’s 911 (statewide local markets)

Environmental Education in Georgia

Georgia Composting Association

Georgia Department of Community Affairs dca.state.ga.us

Georgia Recycling Coalition

Glass Packaging Institute Teacher.html

Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful

Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries

Keep America Beautiful (KAB)

Keep Georgia Beautiful

National Association for PET Container Resources index1.html

National Soft Drink Association Recycling/index.html

National Recycling Coalition nrc-

Newell Recycling (local metal market)

Nike, Air to Earth nike/nike

Pollution Prevention Assistance Division

Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation

Recycle America Alliance

SP Newsprint (local paper market)

The Steel Recycling Institute

US EPA (virtual recycling game) recyclecity/

US EPA (general information) msw/reduce.htm

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