Primary school increases recycling to save money

A Neath Port Talbot primary school is on track to reduce its trade waste costs by more than £500 a year, thanks to its keen recycling efforts.

Coed Hirwaun Primary in Margam has been blazing a trail for recycling and now recycles well over 50% of its refuse. Staff and students at Coed Hirwaun have commented on how the move to the Council’s new Recycle Plus Scheme has made recycling considerably easier.

It is one of a number of primary schools across the county borough to have adopted the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ ethos to save money in response to the high costs of using landfill to dispose of their waste.

For the past two months the Council’s Waste Management team have been offering a new service to schools. Under the new initiative schools can request help from the team who will meet with the school and provide a detailed breakdown of costings to show how and where money can be saved by progressively moving towards recycling. Ten schools have already benefitted from the service and have managed to significantly reduce their general waste disposal and cut their trade waste bill.

Making these changes has also raised awareness with pupils about the importance of recycling and it is hoped the message will have a lasting effect on their attitudes towards waste.

Gareth Nutt, Director of Environment said:

“Increasing the percentage of waste recycled and composted is one of the Council’s key priorities and I am delighted to see that primary children are getting involved.

“It is fantastic to see primary schools like Coed Hirwaun taking advantage of waste minimisation initiatives and not only boosting recycling and helping the environment but also reaping financial benefits for the school at the same time.”