paperrecycles.org - Paper Industry Association Council

Amount of paper recovered for recycling in 2009: 1,170 tons

Grades Collected: Corrugated (Cardboard) Containers, Newspapers, Magazines, Mixed Paper, Paperboard, Kraft Bags, Office Paper

School District Population:

Students: 18,301
Educators: 1,200
Administrative/Support Staff: 1,200

Number of Schools:

18 Elementary Schools
5 Middle Schools
4 High Schools
1 Non-Traditional High School
1 Early Childhood Center

When and why was the recycling program established?

The paper recycling program at the Parkway School District was established in 1990 after several elementary school students made a presentation to the Board of Education requesting that the district be a better steward of the environment. Since that time, recycling has grown and evolved into a comprehensive program that is part of the Environmental Services Department. As a result of the District's recycling efforts, more than 13,000 tons of valuable resources have been diverted from landfills since 2000, when data started being collected.

How is the school recycling program administered?

Parkway's paper recycling program is overseen by a Resource Conservation Manager and directed by two Materials Recovery Specialists. Included in the administrative duties are outreach and education; continual program improvements; and exploration of additional material streams available to be recycled or eliminated. The Resource Conservation Manager also tracks and monitors the progress of the program, and reports this information to other district administrative officials and the Board of Education.

Since 1999, the Parkway School District has worked with the AbitibiBowater Paper Retriever® program to increase paper recycling. The Paper Retriever program provides bins free of charge in highly visible areas in each of the District schools, distributes promotional resources to help increase collection rates, and pays the schools for the paper collected.

Revenue generated from the program is credited directly to the individual school's budget. The schools are able to use the funds to purchase additional recycling containers, supplies, technology, or materials for students. To raise awareness and generate additional revenue, many of the schools host community paper recycling drives to increase the amount of paper recovered for recycling.

In terms of process, paper is collected in bins located in all district classrooms. The bins are then emptied into larger containers by students and/or Parkway's Materials Recovery Specialists. The Paper Retriever recycling trucks separately pick-up the paper recovered for recycling in their bins. Once a week, or on an as needed basis, the Specialists visit the schools and collect the paper-based packaging that has been recovered for recycling. On average, Parkway recovers nearly one ton of corrugated packaging each school day. All materials are processed at the districts' materials recovery facility and then sent to nearby recycling facilities for distribution. Parkway School District partners with QRS Recycling to deliver the material mill-direct to ensure the best possible revenue that in turn helps offset the cost of the overall recycling program.

How are students, educators, faculty, and custodial staff educated about the school recycling program?

Education is critical to the success of the recycling program at Parkway School District. Awareness allows the students, educators, administration, and custodial staff to understand the need for participation and the importance of recycling correctly. Information about the program is conveyed to school principals through monthly communications describing the benefits of the program. The principals are also provided with paper recovery collection statistics that compare their efforts with those of other participating schools. Additionally, the Resource Conservation Manager engages the Environmental Sustainability Committee, to provide a direct communication of recycling strategies and procedures back to the teachers within each of the schools.

Teachers use lesson plans and the materials provided by the Paper Retriever program to educate students about the importance of recycling. Students also design posters for each of their buildings to promote recycling in the cafeteria and classrooms.

Custodial staff are educated by the Materials Recovery Specialists during onsite visits and through quarterly head custodian meetings. At these meetings presentations are used to stress the importance of recycling and to make the custodial staff understand their integral role in the program.

What partnerships have been formed to promote recycling in the school?

The Missouri Botanical Gardens Earthways Center has provided educational opportunities to engage students in hands-on learning programs that promote environmental stewardship through "green audits". Students conduct green audits to discover ways to save energy or water and improve recycling systems and school and home. Through the audits, the students identify projects that they can do themselves or submit requests to the Resource Conservation Manager or custodial staff to make the school more "green."

Additional school district partnerships include the regional chapter of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and the St. Louis Jefferson Solid Waste Management District. Through the USGBC partnership additional opportunities have been identified for the district to be more environmentally sustainable. The Solid Waste Management District has awarded grants for the purchase of additional recycling facility equipment, outdoor recycling containers and bins, and composting equipment. The grants have been critical to maintaining the viability and cost-effectiveness of the program.

How do you measure improvements in the program?

Improvements to the program are measured by the volume collected for recycling. Schools are tracked on an individual and district-wide basis. This provides a comparison between schools so that similar sized buildings can be benchmarked against each other. In addition, data is tracked and compared to annual month-to-month statistics.

While in-school participation continues to increase, the amount of paper recovered averages 1,400 tons per year. District-wide recovery has flattened, due to the county-wide implementation of residential single stream, which has provided an effective and convenient outlet for community members to recycle at home. To encourage drop-off recycling, the district's Environmental Sustainability Committee is now educating community members about the economic benefits of recycling their paper in the Paper Retriever bins through school principal newsletters.

How is the program's cost-effectiveness tracked?

To track the program's cost-effectiveness, data including revenue received and estimated landfill avoidance costs are all taken into consideration. Additional program costs, such as fuel, equipment, and personnel expenses are all required to weigh cost and benefit analyses.

Additional Resources

Contact

Erik Lueders, MBA, LEED AP (elueders@pkwy.k12.mo.us)