According to the Australian National Waste Report 2016, in 2014-15 Australia produced about 64 million tonnes of waste. That is equivalent to 2.7 tonnes of waste per person!
The good news is almost 60% of this was recycled. However, this still leaves a phenomenal amount of waste going into landfill across the country.
Recycling programs vary widely from state to state, particularly for household waste. It can also be hard to know what is and isn’t recyclable. In fact, many items we think things can be recycled are actually difficult to recycle due to their mixed-material composition.
Enter TerraCycle.
An international organisation that operates across 21 countries, TerraCycle specialises in specialises in converting traditionally non-recyclable waste – such as coffee capsules, cigarette butts and food wrappers – into garden beds and playgrounds.
Even better, TerraCycle allows you to earn money for your school while saving waste from landfill!
TerraCycle partners with other companies such as Whole Kids, Colgate and L’Oréal Australia to run a number of free recycling programs that allow you to send your waste to them and for each item your nominated school will earn $0.02 a piece. That might not seem like much but with a whole school participating, it will quickly add up!
For example, the Whole Kids Pouch and Snack Recycling Program allows you to recycle those convenient yet environmentally unfriendly yoghurt pouches, caps and tubes, as well other snack food packaging. Most kids would have them in their school lunch boxes each day. Why not make money from it while being good to the environment at the same time?
There are also programs for Oral Care Products, Coffee and Tea Capsules, Beauty Product Packaging and Zero Waste Boxes, where old office and school supplies can be recycled.
TerraCycle allows you to ship your waste directly to them, using a downloadable shipping label, or your school can have a collection box.
Not only are these programs great for the environment and are an easy fundraising opportunity for schools, they are also a brilliant way to teach kids about sustainability.
To find out more about how your school can get involved in a fundraising program with TerraCycle, visit their website.
