Mini MRF

Youngsters from Norfolk can now find out about recycling in the county by using a special scaled down version of the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF).

The Mini MRF is the latest activity to be offered by Norfolk County Council's School Waste Action Club (SWAC) and is designed to replicate how kerbside collected household rubbish in Norfolk is sorted for recycling.

For more than three years, SWAC has worked with Norfolk Environmental Waste Services (NEWS), owners of the recycling facility, to provide tours at the facility for schools.

The interactive model allows children to separate mixed recycling such as paper, cardboard, cans and plastic bottles into the different materials to give them a better understanding of how the recycling sorting process works.

Pupils from Lakenham Primary School were the first children to sort their recycling using the new educational tool.

Ian Monson, cabinet member for Environment and Waste, at Norfolk County Council, said: "Young people in Norfolk are growing up in an environment where recycling at home and school is part of their everyday life.

"This new educational activity at Norfolk's recycling facility can help school children understand what happens to their recycling and help both them and their families become model recyclers."

The Mini MRF aims to increase awareness about the need to reduce waste in Norfolk and what actually happens to mixed recycling after it is collected from our homes.

It will also highlight how putting the wrong things in your household recycling bin can interfere with the sorting process and make the final material much more difficult to sell to a reprocessor.

Tracey Mitchell, Waste Reduction Officer, at Norfolk County Council, added: "Visits to the recycling facility at Costessey are always very popular with schools.

"It is great to be able to show children exactly what happens to the recycling that is collected from their homes.

"The hands-on exercise of sorting rubbish, together with the chance to see the actual recycling process on a massive scale, will be an excellent learning experience for children."

The Mini MRF can be operated by up to ten children at a time. The recycling is sorted using magnets, blasts of air plus some hand sorting, as the materials move along a conveyor belt.

Wastecoats

It may be waste to you - but perhaps someone else can wear it.

Pupils from Norfolk have taken part in an exciting project to transform old clothes into fashion items that are as good as new.

The youngsters, from seven high schools across Norfolk, all made "wastecoats" from unwanted garments they brought from home.

The project took place at textile recycling workshops organised by Norfolk County Council's Schools Waste Action Club (SWAC) and textile artist Jessica Perry.

The aim was to highlight the vast amounts of clothes and textiles that are simply thrown away each year, and to encourage the pupils to think about reusing and recycling unwanted materials.

The students were introduced to a number of techniques, such as rag rolling and knitting, using plastic bags and old t-shirts.

They then went on to make the wastecoats, as well as banners to promote the reuse of old clothes.

If you are a school interested in working with SWAC please contact the Schools Waste Action Club on 0844 800 844 or email swac@norfolk.gov.uk