Staff who work in the New Zealand Mt Cooee Landfill department have developed an education program that engages local school children about the ‘waste world’.
The program has now been operating for two years and involves visits to the school to present information about waste streams, the life cycle of waste, waste collection and reduction in the local community. The children visit the landfill and are encouraged to develop plans for how they could impact the landfill operations through their community’s recycling initiatives. There has been significant, positive feedback from the local community which has led directly to increased separation and correct disposal of waste. The New Zealand Ministry of Education has approached our people about extending this program into a number of other local schools.
The success of this program is reflected in the satisfaction rating in a recent survey conducted by the local council. The community responded with a 98 per cent satisfaction rating of the Mt Cooee Landfill operations. Mt Cooee Landfill has also implemented other initiatives such as becoming a collection agent for farmers’ chemical drums that are dropped off at the landfill and collected by a specialist recycling company. The site was awarded the internal ‘Green Ribbon’ award for their outstanding efforts this year.