Waste and recycling talks are provided by Cleanaway Centre for Sustainability on behalf of Council to educate students about waste and the environment, waste reduction and recycling. For more information, or to arrange a waste talk or workshop for your school, contact Council using the enquiry form.

If your school generates a lot of organic waste such as garden waste or food scraps, composting and wormfarming are two great ways to convert the material back into natural fertilisers for your school gardens.

Check out the Composting or Worm Farming factsheets to help you get started at your school!

Council also offers FREE composting and wormfarming workshops to local schools of the Camden LGA. If you are interested in a workshop for your school, contact Council using the enquiry form below.

Schools that have a Council waste service may be eligible for FREE used bins to use for the collection of drink containers for Return and Earn. Depending on availability, these used bins vary in size 80L, 120L and 240L and lid colour, may have minor damage but are still functional. Otherwise, bins that are broken and beyond repair are sent off to be recycled into new plastic products!

Enquire about FREE used bins for your school.

If your school is looking to reduce its waste (and waste bills) but doesn’t know where to start, then a waste audit is a great way to find out the amount and the types of waste generated by your school. Waste audits can involve one representative class or the whole school! You can use this information to plan ways to reduce your overall waste through avoidance, reuse, and recycling. 

Waste audits can also help achieve curriculum objectives with students using a range of mathematical, literacy and inquiry skills as they progress through the audit.

You can download the guide to conducting a school waste audit from the NSW Department of Education website.

Council offers several waste resources to local schools to assist them in their waste reduction journey. You can download the factsheets or contact Council using the enquiry form below.

• Set up a worm farm and make natural fertiliser for your school vegetable garden
• Set up a compost bin and make natural fertiliser for your school gardens 
• Mulch or chip prunings for reuse around trees and gardens
• Look for ways to reuse, renovate or recycle everyday items
• Plastics Recycling Guide - Look for the Plastic Identification Code ie ♳♴♵♶♷♸♹ symbols on plastic containers - it shows the type of plastic that the product is made from
• Mini desktop bins or a set of 3 x 60L educational bins (red, yellow and green)
• A3 waste truck cardboard cut outs
• Waste colouring and activity sheets

Speaking 4 the Planet (S4P) is a public speaking and drama competition for high school students as part of UN Celebrations for World Environment Day on 5 June. Together with the usual Speaking, Drama and Art Categories, more recent categories include Meme, TikTok and Video.

As part of the UN’s launch of a Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, the Sydney Metropolitan S4P 2021 theme is Rewind the clock – reverse ecosystem degradation.  For more information about how your school can get involved S4P, visit S4P website.

The Camden SEED Network is a forum for primary and secondary school sustainability educators in the Camden Local Government Area to connect, share knowledge, resources, opportunities and inspire others. 

For more details, visit Camden SEED Network.

As part of the Clean Up Australia Day initative, Schools Clean Up is a great way to inspire students to learn about the impact of rubbish on their local environment while playing an active role in their community. It's a day when students and teachers work together to clean up an area that is special to them - the playground, a local park, or maybe bushland near their school.

School Clean Ups cater for students of preschools, primary schools, and early education. Register for Schools Clean Up here.

The Schools Recycle Right Challenge runs from early October to mid-November and offers a wide range of recycling themed activities, lesson plans and events ideas that have been developed specifically for Australian schools. The aim of the Getting Started Guide is to assist planning for your school's National Recycling Week activities.

Check out the new Australasian Recycling Label lesson plans too.

If your school is hosting a fete, sporting or special event, you may consider using Council’s event bin service.  This service includes delivery and collection of bins (minimum of 10 bins), labelled bin caps and tipping expenses. For guidance regarding the number of bins required for your school event based on food and beverage stalls and expected number of attendees, visit Waste Bins for Events on Council’s website.

A minimum order of 10 bins for your event at a cost of $19.00 per bin. Please complete the online Special Event bin form four weeks prior to your event.