Pilot Project at Hand Middle School will Recycle School Lunchroom Trays into Compost

COLUMBIA, SC – April 21, 2009 – A pilot project to recycle school lunchroom trays into compost instead of landfill debris is under way at Hand Middle School in Richland District One. 

The six-week project, announced at a press conference today, is the first of its kind in the nation.  It may provide an environmental friendly solution to the cost of disposable polystyrene trays that are thrown away by the millions statewide.  Most schools prefer disposables rather than reusable plastic that must be washed daily.

Hand Middle School’s 946 students are being served on special trays made from bamboo and sugar cane.  After one-time use, the trays are cleared of leftover food, then stacked, bagged and delivered to the City of Columbia’s compost station.  The city has agreed to break up the trays into chips and add them into its yard waste compost mix.

State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said the project is a collaboration involving the city’s Sustainability Team, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control and Department of Commerce, Keep the Midlands Beautiful, Sonoco Recycling and the South Carolina Department of Education’s food service office.  Rex said the partners will assess the project’s success and look at the feasibility of continuing it at other schools.

We hope we’ll see less waste, more saved energy and more conservation of our natural resources, Rex said.  Those considerations are especially fitting now since tomorrow is Earth Day, when schools and students all across the nation will be focused on environmental issues.

Hand was selected for the pilot based on the staff and students’ longstanding commitment to recycling.  The school has recycling programs for paper, newsprint, magazines, plastic bottles and metal cans with the City of Columbia, and cardboard is collected by Sonoco Recycling.

Our students and staff are excited about participating in efforts to reduce waste and protect the planet, said principal Marisa Vickers.

Hand’s students are already familiar with the concept of composting.  Some classrooms have vermi-compost bins where students watch red-wiggler worms turn fruit scraps into nitrogen-rich plant food that can help beautify the school grounds, Vickers said.

DHEC is working with the City of Columbia to ensure that the bamboo and sugar cane trays will be composted following specific criteria to protect human health and the environment.  Quality Sales and Marketing, the state supplier of polystyrene dinnerware, agreed to supply the more expensive Pactiv Corp. compostable trays in return for a report on data from the pilot.  Higher tray costs may be offset by savings in labor,
energy use and landfill fees, school officials said.      

This project fits perfectly with the state’s waste reduction and recycling efforts, said DHEC Commissioner C. Earl Hunter. Composting and recycling conserve natural resources and reduce the need to build landfills. This project has the potential to reinforce that message and instill a lifelong commitment to recycling in students.

Rex noted that many schools across the state are becoming more environmentally conscious thanks to the Green Step School Initiative, the K-12 arm of the South Carolina Resource Conservation Challenge, which helps campuses establish sustainable waste reduction, recycling, composting and other eco-projects.  Sonoco Recycling sponsors the Green Step Initiative and offers free recycling options to seven local school districts.

Interactions between people and nature can bring harmony or conflict, Rex said.  To help reduce the possibility of conflict, our schools develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that promote environmental literacy and teach young people about environmental stewardship and good citizenship.  Those are things that are vital to South Carolina’s future.