Poor recycling habits in Montgomery County schools have inspired the green county’s lawmakers to demand educators clean up their acts.
Overall, Montgomery businesses and residents recycled more than 43 percent of the 1.2 million tons of waste accumulated in fiscal 2007, according to the county’s Division of Solid Waste Services.
In the schools, however, barely one in four pieces of garbage ended up in the recycling bin, for an overall rate of 27 percent, according to a report discussed Thursday by the County Council.
“I haven’t managed to get my kids excited about recycling,” said Councilman George Levanthal, a champion of the county’s green schemes. “But I would never throw paper in the trash. How do you change people’s thinking?”
Levanthal suggested schools consider hiring a “recycling champion” teacher when making personnel decisions, after analysts said the presence of a militant recycler is the single largest factor in a school’s success.
School operating officer Larry Bowers welcomed the council’s mandate to get each school to recycle 80 percent of its paper, cans and bottles. It “may be a stretch,” Bowers said, “but stretch goals are important.
In fiscal 2007, the schools recycled 57 percent of their paper and 42 percent of their bottles and cans.
Should the district reach the 80 percent goal, 1,400 tons of garbage would be diverted to the recycling plant each year, potentially saving $80,000 in trash collection fees. In addition, the district may be able to re-bid its recycling contract to capture some of the money made from the recycled products, the report said.
Eileen Kao and her staff at the county’s recycling office have worked with the schools for years to set high recycling standards. Each school is graded in the fall and given a set of recommendations. In fall 2007, 156 schools earned an A or B; 49 schools earned a C or lower. Nearly every low-performer improved upon a re-evaluation.
“They’ve certainly made improvements to their recycling program,” Kao said. “And there are certainly things that could be done to improve it in the schools even more.”
