Committee advances pre-application for carton-recycling pilot in schools; data collection under way

Committee members said they are moving forward with a pre-application for a Curtin Council grant to support specialized carton-recycling stations in Simsbury schools, aiming to replicate work that has begun at the high school.

Jen said the high school has “gotten set up and started in a smaller scale,” and that Squadron Line Elementary School’s team “did give us the green light to go ahead and start the pre the pre application process for the grant.” The stations would allow cafeteria staff or students to dump liquids from cartons and then drain and clean the containers for collection.

Jen and others described collecting data needed for the grant application. Jen said she has been “collecting some data from Bonnie Anderson, the nutrition services director, for the district” and is translating that into estimates of cartons generated daily; she said the high school and Squadron Line are using a calculator hosted on the implementer’s website to estimate volumes.

Committee members emphasized the intent to document successes and challenges so other district schools can adopt the approach. Jamie said recycling is ultimately governed by state law and that the committee’s outreach and student-led work—via student councils and take-action clubs—are intended to support district compliance and scale-up.

Lydia, who identified herself as the committee’s liaison to the Board of Education, said she will “get a report from them” or accept a written summary and will report progress at the next Board of Education meeting in May. Members flagged operational questions—including whether increased carton collection might attract animals—and said they will track implementation issues and share lessons learned.

No formal grant award or contract was reported; the item at this stage is a pre-application and local pilot planning.