To find out how well students and staff were recycling at their school, the Sunrise Elementary recycling team performed a waste sort after winter break. At a recent all-school Fab Friday assembly, they presented their findings.

The recycling team, students from Emily Jacka’s and Whitney Franks’s fourth-grade classes, discovered 57% of the waste, by volume, was non-recyclable. Much of it was polystyrene lunch trays which are lightweight but take up a lot of space in the garbage. Over 12% of the total waste were recyclable items like paper and plastic bottles. Almost one-third of the waste coming from classrooms were recyclable items. “We’re recycling pretty well here at Sunrise,” Ms. Franks told the students, staff and family at the assembly. “Let’s keep making sure all recyclables get put in the recycling containers.”

The pie chart the students created showing the breakdown of what’s in the school’s waste is displayed in the library for all to see.
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For information on performing a waste sort at your school, contact Pierce County Public Works.

253-798-2179

pierceountywa.org/recycle