NEARLY 2000 ACT students aged four to 18 from preschools as well as primary and secondary schools have taken part in school recycling education sessions bringing the annual total to 12,000. 

“These recycling education sessions are designed to improve students’ understanding waste and recycling in the ACT, with the aim of teaching children to be better recyclers and help reduce the Territory’s waste,” says TAMs Minister Shane Rattenbury.

“The ACT NOWaste schools education program has been running for 10 years. It evolved from landfill-specific and Material Recycling Facility tours to include lesson plans, motivational school assemblies and customised in-classroom presentations.

Isabella Plains Early Childhood School principal Julie Dixon says the sessions were educational and fun for students.

“The content was pitched at an appropriate level, the resources were fabulous and the children had the opportunity to be actively involved in the session by moving around, touching items and contributing their thoughts. As a teacher this impressed me so much,” she says.

The minister says the ACT Waste Management Strategy has set an ambitious resource recovery target of 90 per cent by 2025.