St Mary’s celebrated as first ‘Recycling Hero School’

Published on 03 December 2020

Councillor Latcham and Recycling Pirate Kelly with students Mia Mutch, Harlan Locke and Aiden Jennings.jpg

Students at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School have taken up the challenge to fight for a greener, brighter future and earned their place as our Region’s first ‘Recycling Hero School’.

Waste and Recycling Councillor Shane Latcham said that it has been fantastic to see how passionate the students are, and how successful the program has been.  

“First I want to say a big thank you to St Mary’s for putting their hand up to be our pilot school for this,” said Cr Latcham.

“The Recycling Hero School model was created by officers at Rockhampton Region Waste and Recycling (RRWR), and is unique to our Region.

“This isn’t just a one-off session, it’s a title that a school earns through the delivery of a full education program involving a series of lessons and hands-on activities that can be linked to the national curriculum for a number of subjects and year levels.

“One of the key aspects of this model is regular waste auditing. These audits – as well as ongoing education - are required to retain the title of ‘Recycling Hero’, which means we can really measure the long term impact the school’s efforts are having.

“I have to say the results we have seen from St Mary’s have been fantastic. Within the first two months we saw a reduction of more than 80% in the amount of overall waste being generated at the school, and an increase in recycling output of more than 3000%!

“This program has now been in place at St Mary’s for just over a year, and the dedication of students, teachers, and Council officers has meant that it has been incredibly successful.

“Now that we’ve proven how successful this program has been we’re starting to roll it out to more schools. Our goal is to eventually have this program running in every primary school in our Region!

“This initiative is part of Council’s broader Waste Strategy, which outlines our plan to achieve zero waste by 2050. One important element of this strategy is to ensure our kids are approaching waste responsibly now, and taking those good habits home to their families.”  

For information about becoming a Recycling Hero School email rrwr@rrc.qld.gov.au or get in touch on 4932 9000.

This initiative is part of Council’s broader Waste Strategy. To find out more about Council’s strategy to build a circular economy and achieve zero waste by 2020, download the Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling Strategy available at www.rrc.qld.gov.au/rrwr.

A video with footage of St Mary’s students celebrating the title at a school assembly is available here: https://www.facebook.com/RockhamptonRegionalCouncil/posts/4843632679011732