South Whittier School District has adopted a district-wide recycling program in efforts to reduce the district’s environmental impact and demonstrate environmental responsibility and community leadership.
Each school site in the district received 7 gallon and 32 gallon recycle bins. The smaller bins are in every classroom and office while the larger bins are put in high traffic and high waste areas throughout school campuses, such as cafeterias and lunch shelters.
The bins that are placed around campus are used to collect all types of recyclable materials like cans, bottles, paper, and cardboard. All recyclables collected should be thrown into the recycle dumpster and the district’s disposal company will properly dispose all materials.
South Whittier is following a California recycling program that helps guide schools to follow simple steps to create a large environmental impact. This program encourages districts to unify their recycling program district-wide while providing a learning experience for students, staff and administrators about the benefits of recycling.
The district is using a single-stream recycling system. This means that all recyclables can be placed into one single bin. The recyclables will be collected by a recycling truck and taken to a Materials Recovery Facility, or MRF, where it will be sorted into various commodity streams for sale to markets. That is where it will be processed into feedstock which can be used in the manufacturing of new products.
So what can I put in my recycling bin?
- PLASTICS: All plastic containers except for plastic bags or plastic film. Bulky rigid plastics, for example, buckets. Please empty, lightly rinse and discard caps.
- PAPER: All paper not contaminated by food, including newspaper, magazines, catalogs, books, junk mail, office paper, cardboard, paper bags, paperboard food boxes including clean pizza boxes, chipboard, file folders, envelopes with and without windows, paperback books, mixed paper, paper towel and toilet tissue rolls etc.
- ASEPTIC FOOD AND BEVERAGE CARTONS: All juice boxes, milk and juice containers, and soup and broth containers. Please no juice pouches or straws. Please empty, lightly rinse and discard caps
- FOOD AND BEVERAGE CONTAINERS: All aluminum and steel cans, empty aerosol cans, clean foil, aluminum pie plates and trays. Please empty and lightly rinse. Aluminum tabs and steel caps are acceptable.
- GLASS: All glass bottles and jars. Please empty, lightly rinse and include metal caps separately in the cart.
- SCRAP METAL: All scrap metal items that can fit in the cart are acceptable.