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 Target Recycling at School is a free service for schools in Whitfield County, Georgia providing recycling education and collection of recyclables. Each year a School Recycling Contest is held and top recyclers are recognized. This program is managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. For more information call the Materials Recovery Facility at 706-278-5001 or e-mail Liz Swafford.
Program Overview
Recycling Education, Tours, and Promotions
Target Recycling at School supports recyclers with educational opportunities for students and staff to learn about recycling. Tours, promotions, and educational resources are available free of charge and include:
- Activity books, stickers, etc. for students
- Pencils or other items made from recycled materials
- Tour of DWSWA facilities including the Recycling Center. (Tour Request Form Here)
- Meet and greet with mascot Recycling Ben for special events and assemblies
- Recycling Assessments and Site Visits to improve recycling rate
- Workshops about Recycling for Teachers, Custodial Staff, and Students
- Bi-Weekly Newsletter for teachers and staff (click here to sign-up)
- Fan Page on Facebook for teachers and staff
- Monthly Recycling Rate Reports for each school
- Automatic participation and eligibility for prizes in the School Recycling Contest
- Bilingual educational options (English / Spanish)
 Environmental Education
Beyond learning about recycling, students may learn about other environmental topics in educational sessions led by Recycling and Education Program Coordinator Liz Swafford. She is certified to teach from the following curriculum programs: Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), Project WILD, and Project Learning Tree. All topics correlate with Georgia Performance Standards and can be adjusted to fit various grade levels from K-12 and even adults. Educational sessions can take place at your school, or at the Recycling Center during a tour. A sample of topics is listed below:
- How To Guide for City of Dalton Curbside Recycling
- How To Guide for Recycling at Convenience Centers
- Lifecycle of Recycled Products
- The 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Modern Day Landfills, Municipal Solid Waste
- Aquifers / Ground Water
- Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention
- Wetlands and Watersheds
- Litter Pollution Prevention
- Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources
Pictured on the top right is the Enviroscape Watershed/Nonpoint Source Model. Pictured on the bottom right are students enjoying the Edible Earth Parfait that teaches about Aquifers/Ground Water and Nonpoint Source Pollution.
Recycling Ben Mascot
There are two versions of Recycling Ben mascot of the Target Recycling program. One is a live mascot that stands about seven feet tall. He is available to visit your school during educational sessions, assemblies, parades and other special events. The second is a stand alone or cutout called “Flat Ben”. Flat Ben can stay at your school for a week or more to remind everyone to recycle. You can learn more about him on the Recycling Ben page.
Recycling Collection
Target Recycling provides large front-loader containers for the collection of recyclables. There are three types of containers to choose from: Mixed Paper, Cardboard Only, and Plastic & Aluminum. All participating schools have a Mixed Paper container, some also have Cardboard Only, and very few have Plastic & Aluminum. Based on your school’s needs, collection containers can be added or removed. Also available are cardboard boxes that serve as recycling bins for classrooms and are exclusively for the school program.
 Meet “Big Ben”
Recycling Ben’s collection truck will visit your location about once a week to collect recyclables from the front-loader container(s). Big Ben will document the weight of the recyclables in each container. The weight is used to calculate a recycling rate every month. If you need additional pickups of your collected recyclables, call 706-278-5001.
School Recycling Contest
- The School Recycling Contest takes place from August to May. The contest is open to City, County, and Private schools in Whitfield County, GA with Target Recycling containers.
- All schools compete against each other to obtain the highest recycling rate per student. (Calculated as pounds of recyclables collected divided by the number of students in the school.)
- Target Recycling provides each school with recycling containers that will collect Mixed Paper or Cardboard. Students, teachers, and staff are responsible for getting the recyclables from the classroom to the container.
- The Target Recycling collection truck will pick up the recyclables and weigh the contents.
Target Recycling sends out a monthly report to representatives from each school announcing the recycling rates. The report is also available on this page in the left hand column.
- In recognition for your school’s recycling efforts, awards are given out during the school year every quarter and for the whole school year. Each quarter the school with the highest recycling rate for the three months will receive an award. At the end of the school year, the top three schools for the year will be recognized for their annual total. Awards are tailored to meet the needs of the winning school to either enhance their current recycling program, make their program easier to manage or purchase some type of “Made from Recycled” product that would be enjoyed by the entire school. Previous winners have requested items like carts or wagons to help collect recyclables from the classroom.
 Awards winners are announced during the following months:
- First Quarter, 1st Place Only: (August, September, October)
Announced by November
- Second Quarter, 1st Place Only: (November, December,
January) Announced by February
- Third Quarter, 1st Place Only: (February, March, April)
Announced by May
- Yearly Winners, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place: (August to May)
Announced by August
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