Clean out your classroom with TerraCycle

Now we’ve tipped over the halfway point of 2023, take stock of your classroom supplies and organise a clean-out to keep the rest of the year running smoothly. Between lunch box litter, worn-out toys and pens, storage materials, and staffroom rubbish, classroom cleanouts produce a lot of waste. But that doesn’t mean it all has to end up in landfills.

Make use of your local kerbside recycling services – where all your common recyclables go – then recycle other kinds of hard-to-recycle school rubbish with TerraCycle. You can earn money for your school while you’re at it! Read on to learn more.

Image of classroom in a green colour scale, with a blackboard that reads "Don't forget to recycle!"

Recycling in the classroom

TerraCycle has a number of free recycling programs you can use to recycle classroom waste.

If you’ve been steadily accumulating used-up pens, markers, and correction fluid containers, recycle them all for free in Australia via the BIC Best in Class Free Recycling Program. 

Extend the life of pre-loved toys by donating, swapping, or selling any that are still in good shape. Then, drop off toys that aren’t in a donatable condition at your nearest BIG W store to be recycled through Australia’s BIG W Toys for Joy program. 

Students may drop plastic food wrap out of their lunch boxes, and unfortunately this rubbish can’t be recycled through your council collections. Instead, mail it to TerraCycle for recycling via the GLAD Food Care Free Recycling Program in Australia and New Zealand.

And remember – everyone brushes their teeth! Schools are ideal locations to set up a public drop-off point to recycle used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, and more via the Colgate Oral Care Free Recycling Program in Australia and New Zealand. 

Recycling in the teacher’s lounge

We know that coffee is a staple in the staffroom. Instead of throwing away your used coffee pods, you can send them to TerraCycle for recycling through the free programs below!

Free coffee capsule recycling in Australia:

Free coffee capsule recycling in New Zealand:

When you’re cleaning up after lunch, collect dishwashing liquid caps, air fresheners, cleaning spray nozzles, and dishwasher tablet flexible packaging for recycling through the Dish and Air Care Free Recycling Program in Australia and New Zealand.

Keeping the three R’s in your classroom

Try to keep the three R’s in mind all year in your classroom: reduce the amount of rubbish you produce, reuse as many classroom materials as possible, and recycle what you can through kerbside collections and TerraCycle programs. You can even create fun collection bins with your students for TerraCycle-bound items. 

Aside from helping the planet, recycling with TerraCycle means helping your school too! When you send us shipments of your hard-to-recycle items through many of our free programs, you can earn rewards points to redeem as monetary donations to your school. Want to learn more? Check out our school recycling resource hub.

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