Zero Waste

Knowing how much waste your school generates, where it goes and how much it costs, will help you to measure the progress you are making towards becoming a Zero Waste school. 

What data will we collect?

• The cost of waste management at your school. 
• The amount of waste going to landfill every day.
• The amount that you are recycling and composting.
• The potential you have to reduce your waste even more. 

How much time will it take?

The Zero Waste audit process will require one day for completing the actual audit and some time in the week beforehand to prepare for it. Depending on how big your school is and how much waste you generate, you'll need a fairly large team to carry it out. 

A small team should be enough to go through your waste records for the year and transfer the information onto the Zero Waste Annual Summary. This information can be submitted at the end of the year or at the start of the next year.

You will need:

• To talk to your administration staff to get information on the cost of waste disposal for your school
• To talk to your administration staff and caretaker to help set up the audit, making sure that everyone in the school is aware that the audit will take place and prepares for it properly
• Access to waste storage areas and waste collection bins around the school
• Waste Audit equipment including rubbish bags, sorting boxes, weighing scales, rubber gloves, health and safety equipment, cleaning gear and a tarpaulin

What will be in our Zero Waste Report?

Once you have completed the Zero Waste Annual Summary and entered it online, you will get a report summarising this data. It will show the cost and amount of waste each person at your school sends to landfill and how much waste per person is recycled and composted. Over time as you submit more data you will get trend information showing the progress you're making to reduce your waste. You will get comparisons between your school and other schools in your region and across New Zealand.

- ZERO WASTE Annual Summary.pdf

- ZERO WASTE Data Collection Sheets.pdf

- ZERO WASTE Teacher Support Activities.pdf