New textiles project

Norfolk County Council's Waste Reduction Team, who previously ran the Schools Waste Action Club (SWAC) programme, are proposing to run a new project with Norfolk schools to encourage them to collect more textiles for reuse or recycling, and to raise awareness of the importance of doing this.

We are currently accepting expressions of interest to take part in this project. If you would like your school to be considered for this exciting opportunity please email zerowaste@norfolk.gov.uk stating the school name and address, a named contact and an indication as to whether you would be happy to host a textiles bank on the school site or if you would prefer bagged collections.

Proposed programme

• Regular textile collections via either collection bags sent home with pupils or a permanently sited textile bank at the school will be offered. The collections will be carried out by a registered textile merchant and the collection dates will be pre-agreed with individual schools.
• Schools will receive payment for the textiles collected. (Amount will vary according to volume).
• A Waste Reduction Officer will deliver a free interactive whole school assembly that introduces the pupils to the importance of reusing or recycling textiles, the variety of items that can be donated and what happens to the items after collection.
• A free family learning workshop, where parents/guardians are invited into school to work with their children, will also be offered. This will involve creating an item using a 'felting' technique to show one of the processes used for recycling textiles. Again the workshop would be run by a Waste Reduction Officer and all materials would be provided free of charge.
• Free online activity plans would also be available to schools.

The programme is due to start either towards the end of the autumn term 2014 or at the beginning of the spring term 2015.

We will contact interested schools later in the autumn term to confirm your place and make bookings.