Background Information

Educator Information: What do you do with the things you no longer want or need, such as the packaging from the food you buy or bottles you drink from? Many of us have grown up thinking of this as 'waste', as something we need to just get rid of. But what if we think of these materials as a resource for creating new and useful products? What if we can re-imagine how we think about and use these materials?

Thinking of waste items as the resources required for creating new products is a great way to shift our thinking about what we should do with these materials. Recycling is key to this thinking as it means we can keep returning recyclables to the recycling system to be re-manufactured without requiring the extraction of natural resources from our environment: this is called 'closing the loop'. Closed-loop recycling assumes that materials will be re-manufactured over and over again, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and the number of natural resources extracted from the earth.

What does this mean for us? All it takes is putting the correct recyclables in the right bin. But why do it? There are a number of reasons and they're all very important:

When left in our environment, some types of waste - such as plastic waste - can leach chemicals into the environment, harming plants and animals. In the ocean, some marine animals mistake plastic waste for food and eat it. And some animals eat so much plastic they die of malnutrition. In addition, the chemicals that leach from the plastic can enter the food chain, being consumed by other animals and eventually people.
All the raw materials required to make any of the goods that we use come from resources that are finite, meaning that once they run out you won’t be able to get them back. Recycling means we can recover resources and find innovative ways to re-use these items over and over again.
Getting the raw materials to make products uses more energy than recycling. Take aluminium cans, for example. Making an aluminium can from recycled aluminium cans only takes 5% of the energy that is required to make aluminium products from raw materials (source). What about paper? Sure, we can always grow more trees to make more paper but growing more trees requires water and energy.
Recycling reduces the amount of waste going to landfill. Less waste in landfill is less waste in our environment, which is better for everyone.
By recycling in the right way we can increase the amount of materials recovered and reused to make new products. In this way, we can all contribute to closing the loop and enabling materials to be reused over and over again.

What is the future of the stuff we no longer want or need? By following a closed-loop principle, we are securing a future where there is no waste, only resources. To not re-think, re-imagine and re-manufacture these resources would be a wasted opportunity.

Information about Visy: This activity has been developed in partnership with Visy. For over 70 years Visy has been committed to finding sustainable solutions for Australia’s recyclables and helping to reduce local landfills. Visy collects, receives and sorts paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, steel and aluminium from households, businesses and schools with the purpose of reusing these products in the re-manufacture of new packaging products.

Many of us are familiar with the terms 'reduce, reuse and recycle' or even 'refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle'. In these statements 'recycle' is the final step. However, at Visy there is a unique, local dedication to their recycling with the aim to recover and re-use as much material as possible to 're-manufacture' those materials back into recyclable packaging within their own operations. This model helps demonstrate how the materials we place in the recycling bin can be remade into new products, which, once no longer needed, can again be recycled and re-manufactured. This is core to the idea behind closed-loop recycling; that the materials and resources we use in our day to day lives can be re-manufactured and reused over and over again.

Definitions:

Recycling – Recycling is a process of re-manufacturing materials into new materials or products ready to be used again. This prevents the waste of useful materials, natural resources and human-produced resources
Waste/Rubbish – Stuff we no longer want or need
Environment – Our environment is all the plants and animals (including people) on Earth, and all the things that are needed to keep the plants and animals alive, such as the air, water, soil and sunshine
Sustainability – Sustainability is about making sure there is enough for our environment and for everyone on earth, both now and in the future.

New words for children to learn:

Recycling
Waste

Ages 0 - 2

Preparation: Print this Tree Image or source a small tree in a pot. Collect a range of different types of paper and cardboard, including:

Newspaper
Blank white paper
Paper that has been used
Coloured paper
Coloured cardboard
Rippled cardboard
Textured paper
Tissue paper
Paper labels and tags

Activity: Begin by inviting children to form a circle and place the paper materials in the middle of the circle. Explain to children that all these items are types of paper and cardboard.

Encourage children to handle the paper materials, to test how they feel, smell and sound, and how they respond to being scrunched up.

Talk to children about the difference between paper and cardboard and see if you can sort the materials into paper and cardboard piles.

You could also sort the materials into piles according to:

Size
Weight
Texture (e.g. is the paper or cardboard smooth or bumpy?)
How well they can be scrunched up

As children experiment with the paper, invite them to suggest responses to the following question:

I wonder what paper and cardboard are made from?

Through your discussion, explain that paper and cardboard come from trees and show the pot plant or this Tree Image. You can also tell children that a lot of our paper and cardboard comes from old paper and cardboard: we recycle it! Recycling means to turn something we don't want or need anymore into something new that we do want or need. So when we recycle paper and cardboard, we are turning paper we no longer want or need (such as the used paper you collected) into new paper.

Direct children to your recycling bin, explaining that this is the bin to put old paper and cardboard in so that it can be recycled.

Provocations

I wonder what paper is?
I wonder what cardboard is?
I wonder how many different types of paper and cardboard there are?
I wonder what is the difference between paper and cardboard?
I wonder where paper and cardboard come from?
I wonder what recycling is?
I wonder if we can recycle paper and cardboard?
I wonder what bin we should put paper and cardboard in so it can be recycled?

Possible lines of development

How do paper and cardboard respond to water? Work with children to find out
What can we make with paper and cardboard? Invite children to use the paper and cardboard in craft activities or for drawing/painting
Count the number of pieces of paper and cardboard you collected
Investigate what other items can go in the recycling bin
Share this book with children: Recycling! by Jess Stockham
Investigate recycling further with these activities: What goes in that bin? and What is it made from?

Ages 3 - 5

Preparation:

Collect a range of recyclable materials such as empty boxes, containers, cans, lids, paper and cardboard, and milk cartons and bottles. Make sure all items are clean and sharp edges are covered with masking tape. Arrange on the floor or on a table
Recycling Flashcards– Flashcards can be printed and cut in half, with questions glued to the back of the corresponding picture
Have craft materials close by, such as tape, paint, glue etc. You might also want to use a Makedo kit (https://au.make.do/) to assist children in their creations.

Activity: Begin by inviting children to respond to the following question:

I wonder what recycling is?

Through your discussion, guide children to the idea that recycling means to turn something we don't want or need anymore into something new that we do want or need. We often recycle our rubbish and turn it into new things we want or need. By recycling things, we are making sure there is less rubbish in our environment.

Now pose the following question:

I wonder what our rubbish can turn into?

Explain that, in most cases, the materials we recycle can be turned into something very similar to what it was before. For example, paper is often recycled into other paper products like newspaper, magazine paper, or toilet paper. And glass bottles and jars can be recycled into new glass bottles and jars, while aluminium cans can be recycled into new aluminium cans. Sometimes, however, a product is turned into something entirely new. This doesn't just have to happen once; when you recycle materials can be turned into new products over and over again. Use the Recycling Flashcards to show some of the 'new' things waste can be turned into.

Now turn the children's attention to the materials you have collected. Explain that they will now be thinking about how these materials could be turned into new things. If you need to, you could use the following prompts to get children started:

I wonder if we could use milk cartons as bricks or cupboards?
I wonder if we could use cardboard boxes as rooms, vehicles or furniture?
I wonder if we can use lids as buttons, dials, wheels, plates or bowls?
I wonder if we can use cans as wheels or drums?
I wonder if we can use newspapers and junk mail as curtains or carpet?

Any items that are not used in class creations can be placed in the correct bin (e.g. recycling bin).

Provocations

I wonder what rubbish is?
I wonder what recycling is?
I wonder what our rubbish can turn into?
I wonder where recycling happens?
I wonder why we recycle?
I wonder how recycling can help our environment?
I wonder if we do recycling here or at home?

Possible lines of development

Other ways of reusing recyclable materials in craft activities
Watching videos of a recycling facility
Investigate waste and recycling further with these activities: What goes in that bin? And What is it made from?
Invite a rubbish truck to visit your centre for children to see
Read this book with children: "We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers" by Lauren Child
Nominate a recycling monitor to check that the recycling and rubbish bins are being used correctly
Use the Recycling Factsheet and this poster to find out what you can and can't put in the recycling bin.

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenges and persisting when difficulties arise
Wellbeing	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Encourage families to donate recyclable materials to the centre (e.g. empty boxes, containers, lids etc)
Provide families with tips or suggestions on ways to increase recycling rates at home
Review your purchasing habits and buy products with recycled content e.g. toilet paper and paper towel
Reuse envelopes and paper for art or for note pads
Hold a children’s book/clothing/toys or baby equipment exchange
Encourage families to provide students with waste-free lunches.

The information and statistics included in this document are approximate and have been simplified for educational/illustrative purposes. They should not be relied upon for any other purpose.

Visy Education - What is Recycling?

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