Parrs Wood High School, a comprehensive high school based in Manchester, have been presented with a cheque for £463, accumulated through recycling of paper with B&M Waste Services.

Prior to working with B&M Waste Services, Parrs Wood High had no recycling in place. Keen to ensure that their waste was being recycled and disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, a group of students formed The Co2 Team, dedicated to making the school more sustainable.

Through the implementation of on-site recycling bins and a secure shredding service, B&M are able to ensure that waste produced from the school is properly segregated.

To date, the new waste management strategy has been a fantastic hit amongst both students and teachers, ultimately leading to a monetary rebate from the schools paper recycling. The 75 paper-specific bins have ensured that waste is properly segregated, meaning that the paper waste can be baled and sold- ultimately creating a profit for the school.

On the day of presentation, Commercial Director, Amber Greenhalgh, was given a tour of the school that accommodates 2,000 students. Whilst on the tour, a group of students showed Amber the newly painted Portable Recycling Unit, which houses bulky materials which are to be passed via B&M Waste for reuse, moving the school further up the waste hierarchy.

A group of year 10 students were present on the day, speaking with Amber on their newly updated recycling scheme and green issues around the school

The money from their recycling rebate will be funding a new sensory garden area for students, acting as a breakaway from school life.

Commenting on the day, Amber Greenhalgh, Commercial Director at B&M Waste, said:

“Parrs Wood High School are a fantastic example of outstanding commitment to not only educating children about the importance of sustainable waste strategies, but following through to ensure they practice what they preach in terms of successful waste minimisation and recycling processes across the school. They even ran a previous poster competition to design posters across the school about the recycling options available, from student to student which has seen outstanding results.”

Chris Baker, Teacher at Parrs Wood High said

“Having worked with Parrs Wood for several years, B&M has now ensured 100% of the school’s waste is diverted from landfill, a massive benefit for the environment. Now that recycling levels are so good, the student leaders’ next goal is to reduce the amount of waste produced by the school, and they discussed ideas with B&M’s Amber Greenhalgh and Ian Mckenzie. In particular they discussed how to reduce plastic waste and what type of packaging and cutlery were most recyclable. Based on this advice the students are now preparing a campaign to reduce the amount of waste generated in school.”