Printed on Recycled Paper

FSC Certified

MODEL SCHOOLS FOR RECYCLING IN

MAJLIS DAERAH KAMPAR

A NEWGENERATION OF

ENVIRONMENTALISTS

Majlis Daerah Kampar

CARRIED OUT BY:Majlis Daerah Kinta Selatan

FUNDED BY:Solid Waste Management Component (SWMC)Community Initiative and Educational FundDANIDA

CONSULTANT (RESPONSIBLE ENTITY):ENVI Consultants

AUTHOR:Kenn Ehrenskjold Laursen; Dr. Theng Lee Chong

PUBLISHED BY:Department of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local GovernmentLevel 2 & 4, Block B North, Pusat Bandar Damansara50644 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaTel: +603 2092 4488Fax: +603 2093 5982www.kpkt.gov.my

PRINTED BY:Meridian Solutions

1st EditionDecember 20091,000 Copies

Table of ContentsAbbreviations and Acronyms

i

Message

Foreword

ii

Background 1

Building A New Generation of Environmentalists

4

Teaching the Teachers

5

Educating the Young 7

Project Results

16

Stakeholders and Their Roles

18

iii

Abbreviat ions and Acronyms 3R Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

DANIDA Danish International Development Assistance

EEC Environmental Education Club

MDKS Majlis Daerah Kinta Selatan (now known as Majlis Daerah Kampar)

NGO Non-governmental Organisation

PTA Parent-Teacher Associations

RE Responsible Entity

SK Sekolah Kebangsaan (Primary School)

SMK Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (Secondary School)

SWM Solid Waste Management

USEPA United States Environment Protection Agency

i

I am happy to provide the foreword to this publication on a Kampar District Council initiative to increase awareness on waste minimisation and recycling in schools. The intention of the initia-tive was to create a number of “model schools” in waste minimisation and recycling that by the example should lead to increased awareness in schools all over the district. The initiative was carried out from 2007 to 2009.

The District Council launched the Local Action Plan for Waste Minimisation in March 2006 and has carried out a large number of environmental activities since then. The objective of this action plan was to create awareness on 3R (REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE) and reduce waste among the residents of Kampar District.

Ahmad Kamaruzzaman bin HamzahPresident Kampar District Council, Perak

Foreword

ii

As the action plan progressed, more and more ideas for further actions surfaced among the involved stakeholders. The “model school initiative’ was one such new idea. With the goodwill and financial support from the Danish International Devel-opment Assistance (DANIDA), we were able to extend the programme to carry out this initiative. A number of environmental activities were conducted at the model schools, and assistance was provided to train school teachers to be trainers and in turn conduct environmental education activities in their respective schools. The response from Kampar schools teachers was great. All the experience gained have been disseminated broadly among the schools, through a Grand Seminar, a “3R fun run”, hands on demonstrations” and eco-study tours among others.

I urge all parts of our community - residents, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), schools and business entities and all NGOs to stand together with us to support our solid waste minimisation programme. The Kampar District Council and its Recycling Network Unit will do their best to sustain and enhance the programme. We will continue to provide training to residents associations, teachers, NGOs and others to upgrade and enhance their knowledge and skills and help our country to achieve the recycling goal of 22% by year 2020.

As the Kampar District Officer and President of Kampar District Council, I wish to congratulate all local authorities involved in DANIDA community initiatives for their contributions and successful completing their projects. I hope that lesson learn will be shared and disseminated to multiply the impact of every little change that have been made.

I wish to express our appreciations to the DANIDA and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia for the finan-cial and technical supports to our Initiative. Also I thank ENVI Consultants as the Responsible Entity of the project, the Kampar district Education Department officer, the Recycling Network Unit (RNU) staff and the NGOs for their unselfish contribution and conscientious efforts.

The fund was subsequently established in 2006, and the local authorities were requested to submit proposals for funding. The response from the Local Authorities was overwhelming and very encouraging. It was not easy for the Ministry and DANIDA to select the 10 initiatives, among the large number of interesting and promising ideas, which could be financed within the budgetary limits. The strong response is a clear demonstration of the commitment and enthusiasm towards saving resources and protecting the environment that exists in many Local Authorities and communities.

The initiatives selected include a very broad range of activities involving many parts of the society, including residents, school children, hotels, restaurants, hawkers, tourists to mention a few. And the ranges of subjects are similarly broad including waste reduction, recycling, home composting, bulky waste management and cleanliness.

DATO’ DR NADZRI BIN YAHAYADirector GeneralDepartment of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local Government

Message

Public participation and awareness are instrumental for improving the way we deal with our waste today. Waste reduction and recycling can only be successful if the authorities, the private sector and the public work together in unity for the better of the society.

In 2005, the Government of Denmark through the Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) agreed with the Government of Malaysia to establish a fund to support Local Authorities, who were committed to carry out such initiatives to increase public participation and awareness in solid waste management on the local level.

The present booklet presents one of the successful community initiatives – the Model Schools for Recycling in Majlis Daerah Kampar.

iii

Background It is every individual’s responsibility to actively assist in protecting the environment. To develop such responsibility, it must be facilitated already at a young age. It was at this starting point that Majlis Daerah Kinta Selatan (MDKS) looked towards the implementation of an environmental programme to mobilise teachers and students in local schools. From the very onset, the project has received a great deal of attention from various schools, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Resi-dents’ Associations in Kinta Selatan. MDKS decided to draw up a programme that is targeted on education in recycling and waste minimisation practices in five schools using the 3R message, i.e. to reduce, reuse and recycle resources. These schools, should then, hopefully act as model schools for other schools to follow.

As an increase in waste amounts is unavoidable due to the rapid rise in the standard of living (which Malaysia has experi-enced), the engendering of such voluntary behavior becomes increasingly necessary. MDKS is a small local authority with an annual revenue of approximately RM8 million of which, more than 60% are used to provide solid waste management services. The majority of the waste collected is currently disposed off at landfills. However, landfilling is not a sustainable manner of handling our waste.

The collection and disposal costs will continue to rise and put a toll on MDKS from a financial and administrative point of view. Therefore, the overall purpose of the project was to reduce the waste generation and disposal rates and to further equip the next generation with adequate knowledge to act in a more sustainable manner than how the present generation has performed.

Prior to project initiation, some of the schools in Kinta Selatan were already engaged in environmental activities but many had not embraced such activities yet. This sparked the idea of the model schools concept, after which a number of schools were selected to try out different approaches to 3R. The experience from all the activities would then be accumulated and used as an inspiration for other schools to follow.

The project was, to some extent, designed after a bottom-up approach which meant that the schools were empowered to initiate 3R activities of their own choice. However, the overall frame was fixed, consisting of talks and demonstrations on 3R activities for both teachers and students in conjunction with special events such as competitions, exhibitions and study tours. The very uniqueness of the project lies in its disseminating element. Five schools were chosen as model schools. The experience from the activities in the 5 schools was to be disseminated to other schools, hopefully giving rise to a snowball effect. In the grand of schemes, it was hoped that the environmental and health benefits obtained from the activities in the schools would attract other schools to initiate similar programmes which again, would attract other schools and so forth.

1

SELECTED SCHOOLS:

• SMK Methodist (ACS), 18, Jalan Kuala Dipang, 31900, Kampar.• SMK Pei Yuan, 9, Jalan Kuala Dipang, 31900, Kampar.• SK Kampar, 192, Jalan Bukit, 31900, Kampar.• SK Sentosa, Taman Bandar Baru, 31900, Kampar.• SJK (C) Chung Huah, Jalan Bharu, 31900, Kampar.

A project team was established with MDKS as the Chairman and with representatives from the participating model schools, the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA), the support from District Education Department. The project was assisted by a Responsible Entity (RE), nominated by the MDKS in the overall coordination of the project implementation (ENVI Consul-tants).

The project was launched under the title “Recycling Activities in selected Schools of Majlis Daerah Kinta Selatan” on the 1st of July 2007 and continued until the 30th of June 2008. The project encompassed a total student population of 3,847 from the following schools:

2

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT WERE :

• To train the young children on 3R waste minimisation practices.• To formulate methodologies specifically focused on educating waste minimisation through recycling activities.• To disseminate recycling information system.• To achieve recycling rate of 12 % by 2010 in MDKS.

The project is part of the Community Initiatives Programme initiated by the Department of National Solid Waste Management of Housing and Local Government and the Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA). The programme currently supports solid waste related initiatives in 10 Local Authorities around Peninsular Malaysia which are targeting public participation as an inherent element of improved SWM system. This folder documents and propagates the project in Kinta Selatan and provides information on how to approach, plan and implement similar model schools’ programmes in other schools.

The motive behind the sharing experience on such good practices is not only to facilitate replication of the project but also to inspire new ideas and practices thereby, creating a point of departure for a brighter future for solid waste management (SWM) in Malaysia.

3

As every parent will agree, children have remarkably curious mind and an eagerness to learn. Often, there is a strong affinity with the outside world and it is exactly such elements which the Kinta Selatan project utilises in its design. It is based on the belief that knowledge is a prerequisite to action and the potential to take action is within us all.

Unlocking that potential, particularly in young people requires the design of an educational programme which is fun, engaging and participatory. Just imagine a child coming home after school, looking into the trash can and proudly pointing out how much of the content can be turned into resources. The Kinta Selatan project aimed to disseminate an understand-ing of the environmental impacts caused by our behavior and to address such impact by changing attitudes and values.

Building A New Generation of Environmentalists

4

Teaching the TeachersAs the project essence was education, teaching the ones responsible for the learning becomes pivotal for success of the project. In order for the teachers to be able to convey the meaning and essence of environmental issues and ways to address these, the project kicked off with meticulous “train the trainers” workshops on how to teach waste minimisation and recycling. The workshops were organised mainly to educate the teachers about the issues of solid waste management, the impacts of improper solid waste management on human health and the environment and of course, the importance of teach-ers’ role in educating the future generation.

Among the subjects discussed were issues such as:

• How much solid waste are we generating everyday?• What type of solid waste are we producing?• Where does the solid waste go after we discard them?• What materials can and cannot be recycled?• Why is it important to have a proper solid waste management practice?• What are the impacts of solid waste on the environment, human health and the economy?• What is 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)?• What are the roles of students in contributing towards a sustainable environment?• How the teachers can play their roles in educating the students?

Train-the-teachers Workshop

5

The teachers also participated in group works and demonstrations of recycling in practice such as composting and some fun games which can be used as tools for educating the students. Each “train the trainer” workshop was on an average, attended by 60 participants including school teachers, Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) and representatives from the schools in the District. Representatives from a total of 32 schools and kindergartens have participated in the workshops.

The workshops were very successful and received very positive comments from the participants. Most of the participants felt that it was an “eye-opener” towards the magnitude and the serious problems caused by solid waste. Previously, they never thought of what happened to the waste after they threw them into the waste bins.

Awareness Talks and Demonstrations in the Schools

6

Educat ing the YoungThere are many ways to make a child conscious of a subject but not all can give lasting effect. Bear in mind that presenting knowledge in a purely technocratic manner will often have shortcomings, especially when targeting attitudinal change among children. Instead, one must wrap knowledge in a fun and engaging package which implies that presenting the students with hands-on, interactive experiences – bringing the real world into the classroom.

TALKS AND DEMONSTRATIONS

Targeting these exact elements, several combined talks and demonstrations on the full range of 3R activities were held in each school. Students were taught:-

The core message conveyed was: be aware of the environment - waste is an issue that involves everyone and the choices we make influences our environment, our way of life and subsequently, our health. The talks and demonstrations thereby, illustrated the dynamics of trash, presented ways for the students to engage in environmental protection activities, incul-cated a sense of environmental awareness and showed a large array of benefits of sustainable living practices.

Students Making Handicraft from Recyclable Materials

• How to reduce the usage of unnecessary materials such as reducing the usage of paper in the schools.• How to reuse materials such as turning organic material into fertilizer through composting and at the same time, disseminating information on how composting can improve plant growth, enrich the soil and divert waste away from landfills, etc. • How to recycle waste materials such as making recycled paper from old newspapers, etc.

7

SITE VISITS

The talks and demonstrations were supplemented with site visits to MDKS landfill and a plastic recycling plant that processes waste plastics into resins. This has presented both teachers and students with practical experience on how solid waste is managed, whether disposed of or processed and turned into new resources.

Site Visits to Landfill Site

Site Visits to a Plastic Recycling Industry

8

3R FUN RUN

A joint event for all the model schools was organized in the shape of a 3R Fun Run event where the students from the model schools got a chance to meet and exchange experiences. Resembling the visuals of the Olympic Games, a torch was made from recyclable materials and carried between checkpoints by different VIPs including the schools’ headmasters. A total of 23 checkpoints were placed along the 3 km long route. Approximately 2,000 students from all schools in Kampar areas have participated in the run, spending about 1 hour for the journey touring the town of Kampar. The run started and ended at SJK (C) Chung Huah.

Several activities were carried out in conjunction with the Fun Run such as the 3R drawing competition, 3R banner competi-tion, exhibition on craft-making from waste materials and a competition on collection of recyclables by the students. All students received a certificate for their participation and they have displayed a great sense of pride in having taken part. The activities have created a fun and very different experience from the normal school curriculum and have allowed for the students to show their skills and creativity within a jovial atmosphere. The 3R Fun Run was also an open day event partici-pated by parents and it has provided a golden opportunity for the parents to come and witness what their children have so eagerly been engaged with since the project initiation.

Exhibition and other Activities Held on the 3R Fun Run Day

9

10

The mix of awareness talks, participatory 3R demonstrations and the extracurricular activities was very important in provid-ing a social mobilisation and keeping the motivation high throughout the project. It introduced the values of topics such as recycling and waste minimisation to both teachers and students and tremendously boosted their involvement in the project.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CLUBS

A major aspect of the project was to ensure that the waste minimisation and recycling practices would be sustained after the project was completed in the model schools besides disseminating the practices to other schools. To facilitate this, Environ-mental Education Clubs (EEC) were established within the schools. The members are student volunteers who share an interest in and concern for the environment. Spearheading the group is a voluntary teacher, whose role encompasses the supervision, coordination and dissemination of environmental issues and conservation practices to student members. The groups function as catalysts for any of the 3R activities in the school and provide an avenue for empowering the students to take action on environmental issues in general. By involving in the EEC, the students have learnt to identify environmental issues, contribute to solutions, inspire and spread the message of waste minimisation and recycling among their peers. Thus, the groups function as vehicles for environmental awareness within the schools. Upon the completion of the project, the groups are spearheading the following activities:

• SMK Pei Yuan: composting and organic farming at the school compound,• SMK Methodist (ACS): making candles and soaps from used cooking oil and repair the broken tables and chairs,• SK Kampar: making paper notebooks from used papers,• SK Sentosa: minimising the usage of plastics by the students and encouraging composting of organic wastes and, • SJK (C) Chung Huah: recycling initiatives and composting of garden wastes.

11

GRAND SEMINAR

As part of the model schools dissemination approach, a Grand Seminar was held at the end of the project for teachers and students from other schools to witness exhibitions and presentations from the model schools followed by a panel discussion on their recommendations and lessons learnt, etc. The presentations were conducted professionally and enthusiastically, fostering great interest from the other schools. It gave the audience a valuable insight into what is needed to implement 3R activities in their own school.

Photos Taken during the Grand Seminar

12

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

A series of environmental education materials to be used in the model schools and subsequently, in other interested schools was designed and published. The content of the materials were derived based on discussions made among the stake-holders, focusing on 3R as the main theme. A sample activity book obtained from open source of United States Envi-ronment Protection Agency (USEPA) was also adopted and printed for distribution. However, it was not mandatory for the teachers to use the material even though it has provided an ever present source of information to supplement their teachings with locally and globally relevant topics. The materials developed are summarised as follow:

3R Sample Activity Book – designed for the students with some of the contents being environmental awareness card games, 3R Bingo, various assignments on the use of 3R’s, etc. The book presented the students with simple, fun and engaging assignments to foster interest in waste issues and to provide education on the matter.

Teachers’ Guide on 3R – Showing guide-lines and methodology to implement 3R in schools for teachers at kindergarten, primary and secondary school level.

13

Flyer – Explaining what materials can be recycled and what materials cannot be recycled. It also gave some simple tips on how to handle the recyclable materials at source such as wash, dry and smash the plastic bottles, etc.

Bookmark – A small bookmark for students reminding them on what materials can be recycled and what materials cannot be recycled.

My-bag – A small A4-size foldable goodies bag for the students to encourage its usage and to reduce the usage of plastic bags. It also explains how much carbon dioxide reduction can be achieved by the use of My-bag.

Notepad – A pocket-size writing notepad for the students with a printed slogan, “Let’s Recycle”.

14

The publication of the material is aimed to provide resources and ideas for both teachers and students to embark on their 3R classroom activities. The materials were placed in the schools’ libraries to make available for all the students and teach-ers. All the materials were distributed to the model schools upon completion of the project. Some of the materials such as Teachers’ Guide on 3R and 3R Sample Activity Book were also distributed to the participating schools on the Grand Seminar day to enhance dissemination of the activities.

15

Project Resul ts

The scope of the project was comprehensive and involved around 4,000 students and teachers. Talks and demonstrations were given on 3R culture in conjunction with a series of extra-curricular activities. Educational material on solid waste and the environment was prepared and distributed. The practices of the model schools were subsequently disseminated to other schools in Kinta Selatan. Lastly, a pool of experts was formed at each model school in the shape of Environmental Education Club (EEC) which has played and still plays a catalytic role in disseminating skills and knowledge in recycling and waste minimisation practices through the organisation of 3R activities in the schools. As such, the objectives being set forth in the project have been met.

Prior to the project initiation, most of the teachers and students found themselves lacking of knowledge on 3R and being unaware of the actual impacts and seriousness of solid waste problems. After the project implementation, the teachers pointed out that the students have become better equipped for recycling and waste minimisation practices. Students and teachers have displayed great interest in learning about the 3R culture throughout the project and some of the latter have described the “Train-the-teachers” workshops and site visits as a real “eye-opening” experience. Thus, the project proves that with the right environmental programme, mindsets can be changed and considerable results can be obtained.

All the schools have embarked on the project with the intention of living up to their role as model schools. At present, various schools have expressed their interest in applying some of the good practices conducted in the model schools and some have already started to initiate their own 3R activities in schools. The educational material has received high compliments from interested schools. It was also reported that the students have brought home the 3R message and engaged their parents in such activities. As a result, the message of recycling and environmental awareness has been brought to the door-steps of the households thereby, introducing a broader segment to the vast potentials in waste and possibly enabling a community-wide sustainable practice to reduce waste.

16

SUSTAINABILITY

At the completion of the project, discussions were organised with the participating model schools to assess the extent to which the 3R activities would be continued after the project completion. The findings can be summarised as follow:

SMK Pei Yuan - Environmental education should be a continuous process. The school has started its own com-posting activity and has created a corner for organic farming. Nan Yang Siang Pao (a local Chinese newspaper) has visited their school and published a report in the newspaper on the activities carried out. 3 main activities have been planned by the school for 2009: (i) Handicraft-making competition from waste materials; (ii) Donation of plants by Chinese Associations; (iii) Creating a recreational or campaign site at the hillside behind the school. SMK Methodist (ACS) - The students have learnt a lot from the talks and demonstrations as well as the site visit.The school has started a project to make candles and soaps from used cooking oil. In addition, the school plans to carry out weekly 3R activities to raise fund for the school. To implement the first 2R of “Reduce” and “Reuse”, the school is also running a project to repair broken tables and chairs which can be reused instead of throwing them away as bulky wastes.

SK Kampar - The collection of recyclables is still being carried out weekly by the Environmental Education Club (EEC) and the members were very proud to wear the EEC uniform provided for the project.

In addition, the students are making small paper notebooks from used papers. The school has planned to carry out more activities in 2009 including: (i)

(ii)

(iii) (iv)

SK Sentosa - The school is currently running several programmes, i.e. minimising the usage of plastic by the students; composting of organic wastes; applying the seeds provided by the Ministry of Agriculture for planting in the school and recycling campaigns. All the programmes will be continued in the coming year. The school has also proposed to build a storage area for more effective segregation of recyclable materials.

SJK (C) Chung Huah - The school has carried out an internal survey and found out that about 50-70% of the students are now aware and know what “3R” is. The school will be carrying out its recycling project throughout the year. Another activity is composting of garden wastes. For year 2009, all the programmes will be continued and the school plans to organise a recycling exhibition during the “Parents’ Day” event.

Inviting “Fresh Friends” (The three mascots named “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” from Ministry of Housing and Local Government used for the National Recycling Programme) to the school for aware-ness talks;Essay-writing competition which focuses on “how to promote recycling campaign” and “how to effec-tively use the products”; Sketch competition and; Continuous recycling activities.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

17

The project is targeted on the involvement of a large number of students and teachers from the five model schools. This has put a high demand on coordination of the activities among the individual stakeholders. It was therefore, decided to form a project team committee which would provide the overall framework for the activities and set the policy directions for the project. The committee was chaired by MDKS as the core implementation agency and provider of staff to conduct the 3R talks and demonstrations. The committee members included representatives from the schools and the Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), the recyclers and the appointed Responsible Entity (RE), ENVI CONSULTANTS who was responsible to carry out all the ground coordination and implementation works of the project. All the committee members have cooper-ated with the RE on the ground implementation of the directions set in the committee.

It was decided to give a certain degree of autonomy to the schools to initiate 3R activities of their own choice. In that respect, the project was designed as a bottom-up approach where the schools have presented ideas on 3R activities for the commit-tee to approve. The way in which the project has unfolded was therefore, based on ideas deriving from the schools and subsequently, was discussed in the committee meetings. For example, the need to create an event that would bring the model schools closer together was expressed, resulting in the creation of the “3R Fun Run” event. This has also allowed for a smooth mobilisation of the schools as well as contributing to the creation of ownership, trust and motivation in the project.

The voluntarily engagement of an enthusiastic teacher to spearhead the Environmental Education Club (EEC) in each school was vital to the success of the project. Although students are sought to be empowered in organising 3R activi-ties themselves, the presence of a teacher to lead and cooperate with the consultant has kept the interest high and contrib-uted to the continuation of the 3R activities. They were also members of the PTA thereby, cooperating as an entity on the project. When asked about the reasons for their involvement, one teacher replied, “We will try to do as much as we can. Sometimes it is difficult to keep the interest of the students high but it is important for the school community and the environment”.

The project also underlined the importance of having the right advisor involved. Staff from the ResponsibleEntity (RE) played the role of ground coordinators, technical advisors, documenter of project activities and communication link between MDKS and the schools on the implementation of the project policies. Their knowledge of the local communities and experience in environmental projects allowed for at smooth implementation of the project. This has also greatly eased the work of the MDKS and allowed them to focus on the overall coordination of the project.

Stakeholders and Their Roles

18

19

20

CARRIED OUT BY:Majlis Daerah Kinta Selatan

FUNDED BY:Solid Waste Management Component (SWMC)Community Initiative and Educational FundDANIDA

CONSULTANT (RESPONSIBLE ENTITY):ENVI Consultants

AUTHOR:Kenn Ehrenskjold Laursen; Dr. Theng Lee Chong

PUBLISHED BY:Department of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local GovernmentLevel 2 & 4, Block B North, Pusat Bandar Damansara50644 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaTel: +603 2092 4488Fax: +603 2093 5982www.kpkt.gov.my

PRINTED BY:Meridian Solutions

1st EditionDecember 20091,000 Copies

Printed on Recycled Paper

FSC Certified

MODEL SCHOOLS FOR RECYCLING IN

MAJLIS DAERAH KAMPAR

A NEWGENERATION OF

ENVIRONMENTALISTS

Majlis Daerah Kampar