Planning For Zero-Waste At Schools - A toolkit

This toolkit aims at providing step-by-step guidance accompanied by tools to develop and implement “Action Plans” to close the loops of material and resources at any school level, considering a system approach and focusing on low-tech options that could be applied in any low- and middle-income settings.

This toolkit was built on existing proven methodologies from the sanitation and solid waste management sector (see Part 1 - Key concepts). They were used and adapted in schools in Nepal and Peru between 2018 and 2022 through pilot projects.

Scope and target audience
This toolkit is for individuals or organizations, such as:

• School community members (teachers, students, non-teaching staff, etc.) who want to improve SWM in their own institution;
• Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and civil society organization who want to support educational institutions in implementing a Zero-Waste approach.

This toolkit is structured as follows:

• Part 1: Introduces the key concepts and guiding principles of the developed methodology presented in the toolkit.
• Part 2: Describes each steps of the planning approach towards Zero-Waste at schools, with detailed activities:
  • Step 1: Mobilize
  • Step 2: Baseline
  • Step 3: Planning priorities
  • Step 4: Identify and evaluate options
  • Step 5: Develop an Action Plan
  • Step 6: Implement the Action Plan
  • Step 7: Monitor and evaluate
• Part 3: Presents technical resources covering all the aspects of solid waste management.
• Part 4: Contains summary briefs for each tool.
• Part 5: Contains technical factsheets.