September 2011
RECYCLING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP
Location: III. osnovna šola Celje, waste disposal site at Bukovžlak
Date: 26th September 2011
Participants: pupils of 7th A and 7th B class
As a part of our mobility week the
school has decided to organize a
special
day
with
workshops
concerning recycling and waste
management with disposal. Both
classes were divided into 2 groups and
had an interesting day ahead of them.
Photo 1: 7th A and B classes with Mrs.
Katarina Kurnik and guests
We were visited by Mrs. Janja Čuvan from the Secondary School of Civil Engineering and
Environmental Protection. She brought 4 students with her and their job was to introduce our
pupils to the importance of
recycling and separating our
waste. They used shorter videos
and PowerPoint presentations
and warned us about what kind
of materials can be re-used,
recycled or have to be
separately disposed of. We can
recycle paper, glass, metals,
cartons andplastic which can be
re-used later. Some things
cannot be re-used, but should
still be disposed of separately,
like: batteries, ordinary waste,
Photo 2: Recycling workshop
1
Recycling and waste management workshop | III. osnovna šola Celje, Slovenia
September 2011
computer equipment, medicine, poisonous waste, TVs and other household equipment. Some
of these types of waste are very dangerous and should be only thrown away in a safe manner
(e.g. asbestos roofing, medicine, poison, paint, etc.). The lecture was very useful and
informative, but now it was
time for some games and fun.
Our guests had prepared some
interesting activities for us
where the pupils were asked
to dispose of some waste in
appropriate bins, distinguish
between different symbols for
dangerous waste and decorate
bins in order to be more
noticeable and appealing to
the general public.
Photo 3: Symbols denoting dangerous substances and waste
In the end we conducted a survey where the pupils were asked about what materials are
recycled at their home, what materials are disposed of separately and so on. We've discovered
that
almost
everybody is very
mindful
of
disposing
paper
separately, plastic
and
biological
waste. Also very
common are plastic
bottle tops, but out
of 37 households
only 1 family is
collecting tin cans
and only 4 are
collecting worn-out
batteries.
We
should
definitely
improve that last
statistic!
Photo 4: Taking the survey
2
Recycling and waste management workshop | III. osnovna šola Celje, Slovenia
September 2011
The second part of our workshop was a
field-trip to the Bukovžlak waste disposal
depot, where we had an insight into the
actual process of waste management.
The Bukovžlak depot is one of the
biggest depots of its kind because it
accepts waste from 24 Slovenian
municipalities. There is still sufficient
space for the next 30 years here, but
after that we're going to have to find
another site and thus destroy another
beautiful area of our country and fill it
with refuse.
Photo 5: Part of the Bukovžlak waste depot
Photo 6: “ Isn’t this a big pile of waste? How many trees do you think we could save if we
recycled all of this paper here? “
3
Recycling and waste management workshop | III. osnovna šola Celje, Slovenia
September 2011
The tour lasted about
an hour and we saw
how and where
different materials
are stored, which
ones
are
being
disposed of there,
which ones are sent
further to other
companies
that
recycle them and
which
ones
are
especially dangerous
and are stored in
special landfills with
extra
protective
measures.
Photo 7: Mechanic press that gets waste ready to be shipped for recycling
All in all it was a very informative and fun
day. We've made a promise to try and
recycle as many things as we can and we
will make sure not to throw something
away unless it is completely useless and
cannot be used for anything else. For this
reason we have our own eco-island at the
school we have been using for the last 2
years. It is where we collect used up
batteries, printer toners, plastic bottle
tops, other plastic waste, paper and glass.
So, if you do not have separate waste bins
at home you can always use the schools
eco-island.
Photo 8: Our school’s eco-island
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication
[communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
4
Recycling and waste management workshop | III. osnovna šola Celje, Slovenia