the happy bin

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Milk Cartons

1. Q: We would like to know whether anyone has solved the problem of milk cartons which the infants have each morning. - Junior class Aberhafesp School
2. Q: Can we recycle milk cartons (waxed paper?) and how do we do this? - Mrs J. Tinsley, Head teacher Dolfor School.
3. A: Dear Junior Class and Mrs Tinsley. You ask a very good question! Any card or paper item that is eventually dumped in a landfill site will be 'eaten' by micro organisms. These micro organisms may produce a greenhouse gas called 'methane'. This gas might damage our planet if it escapes from the landfill site into the air. I don't have an easy answer to your important question but do hope you'll try very hard to find one. - Ian Mitchell, Green Egg Company.
4. An answer: Hello: some schools have asked their milk supplier to deliver milk in plastic bottles, so that they can be recycled. One small school gets large plastic bottles and pours into reusable glasses, so that they only have to recycle one or two bottles per day. - Claire Davies, Swyddog Addysg Ailgylchu, Recycling Education Officer
5. Another possible solution: Many of the cardboard milk cartons are made by a firm called Tetra-Pak. They contain a thin layer of plastic material and a small amount of aluminium. I think Tetra Pak offer a recycling service - not sure if it is free or not. I know they are recycling cartons from some schools in the UK and are hoping to expand the service. What I don't know is whether it is free, how frequent it is, whether cartons have to be washed and flattened etc. The last contact I had for recycling information at Tetra Pak was:
   Nic Mann
   National Recycling Officer
   Tetra Pak (UK) Ltd
   Bedwell Road
   Cross Lanes
   Wrexham
   LL13 0UT
   01870 442 6012
   077 8891 5586
   nicola.mann@tetrapak.com
   Why not get the children to ask her about the scheme? - Sue Thompson from Glasu.
6. Another answer: Powys school milk is contracted through large number of different suppliers. (over 40) Many schools have requested that supplier provides plastic instead of Tetrapak as there are more options for recycling. One school has changed to large plastic bottles and actually pours milk into glasses and washes them out for re-use daily! I believe that the only recycling facility for Tetrapak in UK is in Fife, Scotland. The free mailing return system has now ceased. There is a trial project currently running in South Wales where school milk is delivered and cartons are taken to be recycled on daily basis... all the way back to Sweden. There are plans to roll this out to other schools across Wales if successful. I would like to see what response schools get from Tetrapak if they email them. I'd like to know how they continue producing packaging that requires such extraordinary means and lengths to recycle it. - From a Schools Recycling Officer (Name and Email address supplied)
7. Response from Ysgol Dolfor who have tried emailing Tetrapak: We have emailed Nichola Mann about Tetrapak Milk Cartons but have not received a reply. Redbridge, who deliver our milk, have no way of recycling them or any suggestions as to other containers that we could both use and recycle.
8. Response: I read at the weekend that they have discontinued their service whereby you could post them to Scotland, and they now go to Sweden (where Tetrapak came from) for treatment. The problem is they are made of several materials bonded together and are hard to recycle for that reason - the materials would have to be separated first. - From David Thorpe, who does the web site.


9. Question from Aberhafesp School Milkman: Where can I get plastic bottles to replace the cardboard cartons?
10. Answer: The Happy Bin Project received a long letter from Nicola Mann, Tetrapak’s Recycling Officer. A copy has been sent by email to each Happy Bin School. Here is a short summary of her letter::
    Tetrapak Milk Cartons
    Tetrapak cartons have environmental benefits compared with other milk containers.
    These are:
    Tetrapak cartons are mainly made from renewable materials;
    The cartons are both light in weight and strong;
    They fit tightly together when full, wasting less space when transported.
    
    Tetrapak funds a tree planting scheme in Africa to balance the air pollution caused when the cartons are made.
    Can Tetrapak Milk Cartons be recycled?
    Tetrapak cartons can be recycled.
    Some are being recycled in the UK but many cartons are recycled in Norway.
    The cartons are recycled into things such as brown paper and envelopes.
    
    Recycling problems and possibilities.
    Local authorities are responsible for collecting waste and recycling.
    They have a target weight of waste that has to be recycled.
    Terapak cartons are very light in weight compared to items such as bottles and tins, so the cartons have not been a high priority for recycling.
    However fifty authorities have now set up Tetrapak recycling schemes.
    To help authorities set up these schemes, Tetrapak has a special fund.
    Nicola Mann is responsible for that fund and will be in contact with John Pearson at Powys County Council to see if they can make some progress in this area.
    

Messages about the project

1. From Abermule School: The year 6 are enjoying the responsibility of weighing the waste of each class!
2. From the teachers at Dafydd Llwyd School: We would like to congratulate our pupils on their positive response to this project - they have all made a big effort to reduce the amount of waste in our school. Also, well done to Yr 6 for helping to collect the waste and record the results. They have also shown initiative in educating the younger children in order to reduce waste.
3. From Jan Tinsley, head teacher Ysgol Dolfor: We are composting and now have our own paper bin on site for us and the surrounding community. We have also been returning all unsolicited mail, asking us to buy things we can't afford anyway. However, some of our kitchen deliverers still leave their boxes!
   I have used the interactive whiteboard for whole school assemblies and have showed the Happy Bin power-point presentations. These have gone down very well, and the little ones seem to be very taken with the plight of the polar bears. One parent told me that her 8 yr old couldn't sleep for worrying that her house would be affected by flooding, due to global warming. Fortunately she did see the funny side, especially as Dolfor is one of the highest villages in Wales!!
4. From Kate Ryder, Teacher at Ysgol Caersws: Week 4 We've collected 13.75 kg this week( compared to 14kg in the previous week), and the class are a bit downhearted, but at least it's still less than last week. The good news is that the kitchen have started asking where the compost bin is if we forget to take it back! The school council have got involved and are tabling a motion to only have fruit, no crisps, at break times, so there's still some potential.
5. From Key Stage 2 pupils, Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd We have learned a lot about how to protect our environment. Now we understand that if we throw something away without thinking it can affect our wildlife, especially polar bears. We have discovered that our landfill sites are overfilling with unnecessary waste and that this is taking up land space. We are pleased that we have helped the younger children in our school to understand the importance of recycling and reducing waste. We have enjoyed taking on the responsibility of collecting the waste each day. We have looked forward to comparing our results with other schools each week. Thank you.

Waste from School Meals

1. From Abermule School: Which school meal waste can go in the compost bins?
2. One possible answer: I believe that all uncooked vegetable and fruit waste (i.e. potato peelings, onion skins, salad leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, apple peel etc) can all safely go in the compost bin.
   Cooked waste has to go to landfill where I'm afraid it will probably produce methane gas.
   Don't put cooked waste in the compost bin as it will probably attract rodents! It would be better to get all cooked food inside kids and teachers! The cook would feel good about that too! Maybe the children will have some good ideas about how to reduce the waste that is left on plates at lunch time.
   If you could get the cooked waste down to a tiny amount (Say 100 grams a day) it could be composted in a special way that won't attract rodents.
   It could be fed to worms in a wormery. This is really good fun as the creatures produce a brilliant fertile compost. These red composting worms are the best school pets I know. They are useful and will survive with little attention during school holidays. You can find out about composting worms and wormeries at www.wigglywigglers.co.uk - Ian Mitchell. Green Egg Company.
3. A: A friend has tried one of these: Smart soil composter. She says she can make compost from ALL food waste in 4 weeks. NO WORMS. I haven't seen one. She has a small version in her kitchen. - From David Thorpe, who does the web site.


4. Another question from Ysgol Abermule about School Meal Waste: Some of the children who are reluctant to try the new look menus are opting for jacket potatoes and then throwing away the skins.
5. Answer: small amounts of potato skins could go in a wormery (see 2 above) or in a special compost bin (see3 above). However there is an alternative solution which you may like to consider:
   If the school or a parent/grandparent has an organic vegetable garden, cooked potato skins and other cooked vegetable waste could be buried in trenches where the gardener intends to grow beans or peas (legumes).
   Legumes, as I'm sure you know, obtain the nitrogen for growth from a symbiotic relationship with soil micro organisms. They can grow perfectly well on unrotted compost! Cooked food waste, buried in the soil, stores soil moisture near the roots of the plants and eventually degrades to make both an excellent soil conditioner and fertiliser. (Potato skins are meant to be full of nutrients) The waste won't attract rats if it is buried deep enough...about 30 cm beneath the surface. The potato skins won't grow since they've been cooked!
   If I lived near your school I'd willingly take this waste. I use waste like this in my vegetable plot. The only unwelcome visitors are moles that occasionally tunnel into the garden looking for the worms that seem to enjoy feeding on this waste.
   Why not advertise this plant food in the school newsletter to parents or get some burly year 6 kids digging a vegetable plot if you havenÕt got one!!! - Ian Mitchell. Green Egg Company.