Students turn trash into tools for school

Published on 09 May 2023

With the help of Ku-ring-gai Council, West Pymble Public students have transformed plastic waste into rulers for their classmates.

It follows a workshop where Year 3 and 4 students were shown how plastic waste could be changed into school rulers.

Ku-ring-gai Council has partnered with the industrial design company Defy Design to purchase a special mould whereby plastics collected by students can be melted down into rulers for the classroom.

The innovation is part of the Council’s community education program to help Ku-ring-gai cut its waste and aim to reach a target of net zero emissions by the year 2040.

In what is hoped to be the first of many workshops, the Council is educating students about the importance of a circular economy and reducing the amount of plastic ending up in landfill.

Attending the workshop was Mayor Jeff Pettett, who said he would like to see the innovation being taken up by more local schools.

“It’s a great way of transforming unusable plastic into something useful and also educating the students on what a circular economy really means.”

The Mayor added that Council was keen to hear from other local schools who might be interested in using the mould and hosting a free workshop at their school.

West Pymble PS Principal Bronwyn Wilson said the students were keen to see how the plastic could be turned into rulers. “They will be proudly using them in class.”

Find out more at krg.nsw.gov.au/netzerocommunities or call the Council’s sustainability education officer on 9424 0000.

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Media enquiries: Sally Williams Ku-ring-gai Council 9424 0000.