Wake County School Recycling Pilot Program Focus Group Meeting Summary Background On April 1, 2004, Wake County Solid Waste held a focus group discussion at Leesville High School to gain feedback from the schools involved in the school recycling pilot program regarding the operational and educational aspects of the recycling systems tested in their respective schools. The meeting was facilitated by the UNC Environmental Finance Center, an environmental outreach program within the School of Government, with reporting and assessment assistance provided by the County's solid waste management consultant, R. W. Beck. This report summarizes the feedback received from participants at the meeting and presents resultant findings and conclusions. Eight schools (Apex MS, Carroll MS, Combs ES, Leesville HS, Lockhart ES, North Ridge ES, Powell ES and Sanderson HS) were represented at the focus group meeting. Follow up one-on-one meetings will be conducted by Wake County to receive feedback from the seven schools that could not attend. Meeting Process The first part of the focus group meeting entailed gathering feedback from participants regarding their recycling program's operational aspects. Each attendee was asked to comment on their likes and dislikes pertaining to the external storage containers, classroom bins, and what made their program "work" with respect to materials handling procedures employed at their respective schools. The meeting facilitators recorded the feedback received under these three topics on flip chart paper and took detailed notes. The comments received are provided in Tables 1 through 3 at the end of this report. In the second part of the meeting, participants were divided into two groups (middle and elementary school representatives, and high school representatives). Participants were provided with Post-it notes upon which they wrote statements about what they found to be helpful, somewhat helpful, or not helpful in the following areas: Schedule/timing of kick-off, School presentation, Incentives, Recycle Guys Resource Kit, and Program evaluation. A large sheet of butcher block paper was labeled with the three headings pertaining to helpfulness. Participants in each group were asked to apply their Post-it note comments under the appropriate headings so that everyone could see each other's comments. Facilitators briefly reviewed the comments presented by the two groups, then thanked R. W. Beck 1
everyone for their participation. The comments received during this exercise are provided in Tables 4 and 5. Findings and Conclusions As mentioned above, comments received from the focus group participants are provided in Tables 1-5. General conclusions that can be derived from the collective input of meeting participants are summarized below. Internal Containers There were more positive comments and fewer negative comments received regarding the larger green bins versus the smaller green bins, but in general, both types of bins were appreciated and appeared to meet their intended purposes. The smaller bin, however, was not large enough to handle the volume of newspapers generated in at least one of the schools. External Containers Roll-off containers and dumpsters both appear to be acceptable to the schools that have them, however the high loading height of the dumpsters required that the materials be delivered to the dumpsters in small, relatively manageable loads. It appears that emptying classroom containers directly into the dumpsters is the best way to overcome this obstacle. Use of carts to haul several bins to the dumpster site or having students empty one bin at a time are workable options. Having the ability to lock the containers also appears to be desirable to prevent contamination. Igloos are not well liked due to their small openings which cause them to be difficult to load. Secondly, school representatives did not appear to like the Igloos to be available for public use. This was primarily due to the litter and trash problems that resulted from public use. Making it Work Involvement of students in collecting recyclables appears to work very well, particularly when handled by a specific class or club, and when incentives are provided. Some assistance from the janitorial staff was also helpful in certain schools, and appreciated. The schools seem to benefit from having the flexibility to tailor the design of the recycling program to their individual school. Some creative and resourceful approaches are being utilized that might be applicable in other schools if they were aware of them. Regarding the type of paper collected, one representative commented that colored paper causes contamination. Newspaper is another material that is generated in large quantities and fills containers quickly. High school representatives want to recycle PET bottles and cans in addition to paper, but are not sure how to address the challenges inherent in doing so. Concerns pertain to keeping contaminants out of the bottles as well as collecting bottles from the cafeteria and other locations in the school. R. W. Beck 2
No concerns about plastic bottles were raised by the elementary and middle school representatives in attendance, although only a few such schools mentioned that they collected these materials. Promotion and Education Incentives and educational materials were well liked and appreciated. However, financial incentives were not considered to be very helpful; and one school mentioned that trading cards were not allowed in their school. In addition, there were some comments that indicated some of the educational materials were geared toward younger students as opposed to older students. Promotion and education materials designed for high school students would be helpful. There were a number of comments about the helpfulness of the PowerPoint presentation and video. Several representatives indicated that new programs should start at the beginning of the school year (but were not specific as to which week at the beginning), and attending meetings or providing feedback at the end of the year was challenging, due to the busy end-of-year schedule. There was support for integration of environmental education into the curriculum, as well as one comment about increasing public awareness about the need for recycling through the schools recycling program. The elementary and middle school group did not have any "not helpful" comments. Overall, the focus group participants seemed enthusiastic about the outcome of the pilot recycling program and indicated their support for continuing the program, based on the nature of comments provided. Table 1 School Recycling Pilot Program Representatives Comments Regarding Internal Containers Keep Small Green glad to have them; use some for paper; some for cans and plastic bottles Toss Small Green doesn't hold newspaper well; borrow Post Office bins Small Green liked; easy to handle (1 day of use) Large Green love; less contamination Large Green good for newspaper; put on a lab cart to get to the dumpster Large Green 1 student to 1 class; takes directly to dumpster Large Green children take out Large Green transferred by custodian when needed; on their rolling trash cans Barrels for cans & bottles (from Ajinomoto) - work well Blue Trashcan for bottles haven't used yet; worried about contamination R. W. Beck 3
Table 2 School Recycling Pilot Program Representatives Comments Regarding External Containers Keep Roll Carts hold a lot; keep rain out Roll Cart good Roll Carts excellent; students can roll in school Igloo big enough City Igloo works fine; use for plastic, aluminum, newspaper Dumpster much better than Igloos; gets locked N&O bin works well; locking wheels are nice N&O bin works well; get lots of newspaper (move to external chart) Toss Roll Carts don't use as a transitional container; get too heavy to dump into green dumpster Roll Carts - need bigger labels to prevent contamination Igloo not good; like a dump Igloo opening too small; bad design; kids make a mess Igloo hated Dumpster height requires smaller loads Igloo glad to be rid of public drop off; took too much time keeping area cleaned up R. W. Beck 4
Table 3 School Recycling Pilot Program Representatives Comments Regarding Making it Work Combs Elementary: Recycling Club services the classroom bins One student goes to one classroom at a time and empties bin into roll carts on Fridays 30 students (3rd-5th graders) participate Lockhart Elementary: Science Club empties the recycling containers Teachers know when containers will be emptied Intercom announcements as reminders Cart + 3 students (uniforms) Custodians can recycle cans North Ridge Elementary: Older children or custodians empty classroom containers Recyclables are transferred to custodial cart and rolled to City Igloos They get a lot of newspaper Powell Elementary: Recycling elective class will service bins Offers rewards for classrooms recycling the most material Apex Middle: Junior Beta Club services classroom bins Collect plastic and aluminum through the cafeteria as well as paper and have developed custom labels for bins containing bottles and cans Carroll Middle: Custodians assigned to each hallway put bins on rolling trash can Newspaper overload Leesville High: Earth/Environmental Class services the classroom bins One student services one classroom on an as needed basis Student takes bin to dumpster Cart/wagon used occasionally as transfer station Not recycling plastic bottles yet, wanted to get paper recycling going first. Concerned about trash and fluids in plastic bottle recycling container. Sanderson High: Environmental Club uses lab carts on Tuesdays to move material Bins are placed on cart then emptied into dumpster Some colored paper goes into the wrong bins Currently not recycling plastic bottles in cafeteria. Problematic as staff removes trash from the dining tables, and sorting is too time-consuming. General Comments: Soda & plastic can be placed in clear bags Call school coordinators in advance to schedule bin drop offs so they can be there to receive the containers Need to determine how to collect plastic bottles especially from high schools R. W. Beck 5
Table 4 High School Representative Comments Regarding Promotion and Education Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful School Involvement: Generally good. I just want a way to get the plastic pop bottles! Presentation: The PowerPoint presentation was very helpful I used slides from it to make a presentation to the staff. I definitely think that any incentive will help! Kids love free stuff! High school aged of course! Curriculum Integration: The more integration into the program and teaching, the better. Programs will help the students teach the teacher. Program Evaluation: Good communication and evaluation opportunities e.g., we adjusted plans for bottles. Individuals in the Solid Waste Management office have consistently verbally asked for feedback. It's been fine so far, just so tired! Overall: It's been good so far, just maybe need more classroom bins, (not just for classrooms) for offices/guidance/lounges, etc. This is the best thing that could happen the school needs to integrate recycling management into the community. Note: Schedule/Timing: Start program at beginning of year. Programs in the school form quickly and changing habits later in the year is difficult. Presentation: Might be a good idea to have a different presentation for high school students. Very good the students involved walked away with good information. Program themes could be elevated to a more advanced level. Helped a lot to motivate students when someone other than their teacher was interested in recycling. The only incentives that I received from Waste Management were the free Pepsi cards. I do give those out. Curriculum Integration/Kit/Audit: Kit was fine. Waste audits could be used in my Earth Science class, perhaps AP Environmental, but as an "extra" activity. Need to offer more for high school students. Overall: Have not started program yet but should be helpful. Schedule/Timing: Fall is best time to implement new programs students and teachers are easier to train then! Kick off should be at beginning of the year, or beginning of the term. Presentation: Seemed to be geared towards elementary aged students (Recycle Guys and different activities). The big incentive we found was making recycling a class assignment/ requirement; money for recyclables was only a small factor; other stuff was not a factor. Have not used any incentives. Overall: Haven't used anything yet. Incentives included: Custodian t-shirts, Age appropriate promo items (trading cards, pencils, drink coupons), Recycling Resource Kit, Shared revenue. Recycling Resource Kit included: Acceptable material list, Books, Presentation on CD, Lesson Plans, Recycle Guys video. Curriculum integration included: Games, Math activities, EOG preparation, SAT preparation, Writing prompts, Group activities, Community service activities. R. W. Beck 6
Table 5 Middle and Elementary School Representatives Comments Regarding Promotion and Education Very Helpful Schedule/Timing: Timing was fine! Kick off meeting with Principal was a great idea! Presentation: Liked the video. Length of presentation was good. Could have been more exciting for the students. We met with a small group that was going to be involved. We should have met with the whole school in addition. Presentation was great! Can Guy costume excellent. PowerPoint keeper. Explanations of what can be recycled excellent. Video good, Can Guy cute and liked by students. Video for staff, video and Can Guy for students. PowerPoint good. Best audience age appropriate - K-2. Length 30 minutes. Combined presentation of recycling and waste. Pencils excellent. Kids loved the cards! Kids loved the badges. Custodian t-shirts great; Recycle Guys cards great. Curriculum Integration/Kit/Audit: Recycle Guys Resource Kit - Posters of Do's and Dont s, Pencils as incentives, Presentations to share. Resources all useful. Need more than one kit per school. Kit useful to teachers, more than one would be helpful. Curriculum integration very important. Resources are applicable to curriculums. Waste audit presentation was great! Kids are excited about measuring trash. Follow-up with Program Coordinators: Great communication at all times. E-mail, phone. Announcements with timely up-to-date materials. Concerns have been addressed. Somewhat Helpful Any incentives are good, pencils would be nice. Small monthly checks are not an impact, perhaps one large check or item (TV, video player, at end of year if goals are reached). Need incentives for whole classrooms maybe as a prize. Custodians liked the shirts; however, they are not directly involved in recycling. Our club members that are running this program would like shirts. We did not receive pencils, coupons, or money. Trading cards we have not used yet because we do not allow trading cards at school. We will most likely give out at the end of the year. Curriculum Integration/Kit/Audit: Kit was useful; used some - will be used more; build into Standard Course of Study. School Involvement: Colorful signs/posters would be good for around school and at collection locations. R. W. Beck 7
Very Helpful School Involvement: Speak at PTA meetings. Reminders are needed. They have to have incentives. Very important to involve all members of school. Wake County schools could be a partner with Solid Waste Management. Program should be integrated. Whole school supportive. School involvement is very important. Program Evaluation: Written survey ok to do by staff. Good opportunities for feedback and asking questions. Focus group better at lunch but need before end of March (gets too busy at school). Nice easy to complete! Great! Overall: Great program - we need to continue to educate all about recycling and promote support through school leaders. Graph schools recycling by month. Compare between schools! Somewhat Helpful R. W. Beck 8