Browsing by Subject "waste policy"

Schools’ sustainable development work is described as ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability-based environmental education. Sustainable development tools such as environmental mapping and environmental programs focus on environmental design, curriculum implementation and maintenance functions, such as waste management in Helsinki’s primary and secondary schools. The Helsinki city Education Department assesses schools’ environmental performance on a scale 1 to 3, where grade 3 describes the environmentally most advanced school. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in waste costs and waste quantities (cost per person per year and kilo per person per year) among schools belonging to different environmental performance levels and then explore the possible factors affecting these differences. This Master’s thesis was commissioned by the 4V project, which among other things aims at studying the impact of sustainable development education work in schools. The data used in the study was collected and elaborated as a part of this master’s thesis. The data includes Helsinki primary school 2009 waste costs and quantities collected by the 2010 waste monitoring survey. Schools’ waste costs and quantities are combined and the schools are grouped by their 2009 environmental performance level. The initial sample included 64 schools. The analysis of waste costs and quantities was conducted on smaller sample of 29 school buildings in which only school activities took place. The analysis focused on the cost and quantities of mixed municipal waste and biowaste. It was found that schools with different environmental performance level differ in the waste costs and quantities. Most environmentally advanced schools had the smallest mixed municipal waste cost and quantities, and moreover schools with grade 2 had the highest biowaste costs and quantities. The total amount of waste was not diminished but waste sorting had become more effective. Waste costs and quantities appear to be influenced by the factors such as the number of waste containers, their sizes, and the frequency with which they are emptied. In particular, there appears to be scope for improvement in the efficient and optimization degrees of containers’ filling. In conclusion the study recommends that schools should focus their sustainable development work on waste prevention and reduction. This study’s findings provide information to the Education Department and other agencies, such as HSY and Palmia, and to the Helsinki Real Estate department, which holds the school buildings development of waste management.