School Plastic Waste Collection - Mission City Chakra

Plastic Waste Collection

Helping schools responsibly recycle plastic that cannot be avoided or reused.

Plastic reduction comes first. Recycling comes next.

Schools can play a useful role in ensuring that unavoidable plastic waste generated on campus—and clean recyclable plastic brought from homes—reaches appropriate recycling channels instead of being discarded with mixed waste.

Why should schools do this?

Plastic recycling should not become an excuse for using more plastic.

But once plastic has been generated, responsible collection can:

prevent recyclable material from entering mixed waste
help recover useful material
introduce students to responsible material management
extend the school’s waste-reduction efforts beyond its own campus

How Can a School Run a Plastic Collection Drive?

1. Decide what you will collect

Start with a clearly defined category of clean plastic.

For example:

Clean plastic bottles • containers • selected packaging

The exact material accepted should be confirmed with your recycling partner.

2. Create a collection point

Place a clearly labelled collection container at an accessible location in the school.
Display a poster that communicates about the initiative, accepted articles.

3. Involve homes

Students can bring clean, dry and accepted plastic waste from home, in addition to plastic generated within the school.

This is important because the school becomes a catalyst beyond its own premises.

Draft message to send to parents informing them about the initiative. The message can be sent via WhatsApp message, email, student diary or displayed on the school notice board.

4. Send it to an appropriate recycler

The collected material should be handed over to a reliable/authorised recycling partner, according to the material they accept.

What Should Not Happen?

Do not mix everything labelled “plastic” together.

Different plastics have different recycling pathways.

The school should clearly communicate what the collection partner accepts.

And I would put a little MCC principle box here:

A collection drive is not a Zero Waste solution by itself.
The first question should always be:
Can we avoid generating this plastic in the first place?

Make It a Learning Opportunity

Students can track:

What plastic did we collect?
Where did it come from?
Could it have been avoided?
What happened to it after collection?

That turns a collection drive into material literacy, rather than simply another dustbin.

For Pune Schools

Initiative	Implementation Partner	Contact
Plastic waste collection	Sagarmitra	Omkar Ganu 9420481366

Collection arrangements and accepted materials may change. Please confirm with the partner before sending material.

These resources would help you to get started quickly.

Resources to Start the Project

Select a collection point and display this poster

It will inform everybody in the school about the initiative and the dos and don’ts.

Inform Parents about the project for a meaningful engagement

Share this poster along with the WhatsApp message to communicate what the project is and why it is implemented

Message to be sent to the Parents in English

Share information with parents through a WhatsApp message/ Parent meetings, or Student diary for maximum particpation.

Message to be sent to the Parents in Marathi

पालकांचा सहभाग वाढावा ह्यासाठी त्यांना प्रकल्पाबद्दल माहिती द्या. WhatsApp मेसेज/ पालक सभा/ विद्यार्थी डायरी इत्यादी.