Special mention: Rustenburg Girls’ High School

Rustenburg Girls’ High School in Rondebosch, Cape Town, is pioneering learner waste management. The school recycles all its waste material. Yes, you read that right — there is actually no municipal refuse collection service — every single item of waste generated at the school is recycled.

“We were sending 26 bins of waste to landfills a week,” says campus manager Myles Siebrits. “That was 1 400 bins annually, which equated to 350 cubic square metres of waste – enough to fill the school’s swimming pool.”

Solids are sorted and sent to recycling companies, while organic and food waste is processed into compost on campus. Sanitary and medical waste is incinerated and converted into turf grass feed.

Additionally, money received from the sale of compost is used to buy vegetable seedlings, which are grown out and harvested on campus and then taken home by the grounds and cleaning staff to feed their families.

The project started in 2011, and has had its share of struggles. But, says Siebrits, the challenges have been met and creative solutions sought out. It has not been an instant transition, but determination has won through.

Alongside these recycling initiatives, solar panels have been installed on the hostel roof and the campus manager’s lodgings. Monitors are stationed around the school, so that pupils can track power usage and how solar power is able to save money on monthly bills.

“Led by the top down, this is a revolutionary approach to learner responsibility,” says Siebrits. “The children are actively engaged with waste management and it’s become part of the everyday for them. This is something they can take home with them and carry forward throughout their lives.”

The school will also gladly assist any other school with advice on how to follow a similar programme and become completely waste free.