23 July 2024 |  Cambridge Primary students recently embarked on an excursion focused on waste - seeing where it goes once it's placed in the bin, and getting a firsthand look at ways in which to minimise landfill and maximise recycling to power the circular economy.

A window into the world of waste management - students on a tour of the Copping Transfer Station. Photo credit: Bianca Burford. 

Developed by Southern Waste Solutions, in partnership with the Mornington Park Waste Transfer Station and Landcare Tasmania, the Let’s Explore Waste school education program shows waste disposal and recycling in action, teaching students to better understand their waste consumption and disposal habits.   

The day kicked off with an on-site visit to the Mornington Park Waste Transfer Station, where Bruce, the manager of site operations, jumped on the bus and explained how the waste transfer station worked and outlined the options for recycling before anything ends up in landfill. 

The designated recycling area at the Mornington Waste transfer station. Photo credit: Bianca Burford.

The transfer station is an integrated waste management facility designed to minimise the disposal of valuable resources. It processes between 50,000 and 70,000 tonnes of waste material every year – the equivalent of 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools of waste. Approximately 40 per cent of this is diverted from landfill by sorting and processing, while the other 60 per cent is transported from Mornington to the Copping landfill facility.

As part of the excursion, students got to explore the properties of disposed and recycled material, understand how they are processed and consider how Tasmanians can play a crucial role in minimising and managing waste for future generations.

This included a visit to the Second Chance Re-Use it shop, where they saw the concepts of reusing and upcycling in action. The shop features a wide range of low cost pre-loved recoverable and reusable items, from housewares to building materials. Teachers took photos of particular items so students could put their imaginations to work and write a story about the life journey of the item when they got back to the classroom. 

The Grade 3/4 class exploring the pre-loved treasures of the Second Chance Re-Use Shop. Photo credit: Bianca Burford.

Next up was the Copping Transfer Station. Students travelled in the bus through the site, stopping to get off to view the tip face, the trucks, and learn about the scale of the site, thanks to their guide, waste program officer Sophia. They also had a look at the gas extraction and leachate evaporation systems.

The leachate processing machine, otherwise known as 'Florence', with the leachate ponds behind. Photo credit: Bianca Burford. 

Southern Waste Solutions waste program officer Sophia talking with the class at the C-cell waste disposal site. This is a highly secure lined landfill area that has been built to best practice and accepts category C waste. The C-cell ensures that this waste does not enter the natural waterway.

Feedback from the excursion was overwhelmingly positive. The teachers said the following:

"We thought the pre and post lesson plan content was exceptional! We were amazed the program was fully funded, and we loved the local knowledge and insight which was terrific and complemented the students' knowledge base. Thank you!" 

Students rated the excursion 7/10 to 10/10 - they really enjoyed the day! Photo credit: Bianca Burford.

Pre-lesson material included activities where students discussed what they know about waste, conducted a waste audit of their classroom and developed insightful suggestions about minimising what goes into the bins at school and bringing up the idea that good waste management begins on a personal level.

Have a look at some examples of the work students created before and after the excursion:

Students worked on an activity where they wrote down their wonderings about waste as part of the lessons pre-excursion (above) and shared their post-excursion reflections (below).

Thanks goes out to Southern Waste Solutions - Copping Landfill employees and Mornington Park Waste Transfer Station employees, as well as Cambridge Primary students, teachers and helpers for a fabulous excursion. 

Find out more about the Let's explore waste program here.

This program is delivered as part of Landcare Tasmania's Education program, in partnership with Southern Waste Solutions and Mornington Waste Transfer Station.