A total of 22 schools will be taking part in the County Council’s Waste and Resource Efficiency Project which will run over the next two years. Every school that completes the project receives £500 thanks to EU funding secured through the Interreg IVA programme.
Pupils at Priory School began their project on Wednesday 25 February by conducting a waste audit. The school had chosen to focus on the amount of littering in the school playgrounds compared to that thrown in the bin.
They found that, in one lunchtime, the school produced:
- 8 kilos of food waste, of which 7 kilos were put in the bin and 1 kilo was found on the floor
- 7.5 kilos of plastic bottles, of which 5.5 kilos were put in the bin and 2 kilos were found on the floor, and
- 2.2 kilos of cans and foil, of which 0.7 kilos were put in the bin and 1.5 kilos were found on the floor.
Following the waste audit, the school plans to highlight to pupils the expense and waste of throwing away food and make sure more rubbish is placed in the bin, or even better, recycled. New recycling bins will be introduced and the eco reps from Year 7 will be talking in assembly to pass on the message.
Pauline Murray, Assistant Headteacher at Priory School, said: "The students had a great time and really enjoyed dressing up in their blue boiler suits to do the waste audit. The audit shows that if we can recycle all our plastic, cans and foil we will be recycling 10 kilos of material a day. This information will be very useful in our campaign to address the litter problem."
Like all the schools taking part, Priory school will have two terms (12 weeks) to carry out the project.
Each school will look at how much waste it produces and try to reduce this amount. Free resource efficiency training will be available to staff on how to cut energy bills and water usage as well as reduce rubbish and increase recycling. Schools will be spreading the message in their local community about what they are doing as a way of encouraging others to take action to reduce carbon emissions.
County Council officers will help representatives of the school (which could be from the school council, eco reps or a particular class) to perform two waste audits:
- one at the beginning of the project to show what type of rubbish the school throws away, and
- a second audit once the project is completed to show what difference the changes have made.
The school can also have energy and water audits. Help and advice to reduce environmental footprints and save money will be available.
The school will send a bursar, caretaker, governor, headteacher or member of the leadership team to a free resource efficiency training session run by the County Council.
Local businesses and community groups can also take up free training workshops to help them reduce waste while saving energy, water and money. Please contact Andy Arnold on 01273 481606 or andy.arnold@eastsussex.gov.uk
Further information
This project has been part financed by the European Regional Development Fund, through the Interreg IVA (CHANNEL) Programme. The work with our project partners in Rouen, France is linked by the common aim to reduce waste and increase resource efficiency across our region.
Reference:
2326
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