Following the suspension of classroom activities by the recognition of the state of alarm due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Waste Consortium has put on the Internet the educational program taught in schools during the school year in the following communities: Alto Araxes, Bidusi, Bortziriak, Baztan City Hall, Eska Salazar, Irati, Malerreka, Mairaga, Mendialdea, Sakana, Jurramendi, Sangüesa, La Ribera Alta, La Ribera and Valdizarbe.

The activities are aimed at children between the ages of six and fourteen years and their families. Through games, explanatory videos, informative articles or worksheets, recycling, reuse of materials, waste prevention, compost production, responsible consumption and purchasing, the commitment to circular economy or the fight against climate change, among others are encouraged.

The program is offered in both Basque and Spanish (link to the contents index in Basque) and is divided in the different cycles of Primary Education and in the first cycle of Compulsory Secondary Education. The Waste Consortium and the Hirusta company responsible for the educational programme have adapted their activities to the digital environment to make them available to educational institutions, so that the programme can be used in some way by all citizens.

In the Consortium’s on-line education program we can find games, puzzles, tutorials to make toys with the reuse of domestic materials, video questionnaires and related press articles or a test adapted to each community within the Consortium on waste management.

Over 100 centers in the program

During the 2019-2020 academic year, a total of 111 centres are participating in the Waste Consortium’s educational programme (approximately 9,000 students). Until the state of alarm was declared, more than 360 workshops were held and almost 90 were scheduled for the coming months. With a view to ensuring that all educational establishments continue to have access to their training programmes for the reduction and proper management of waste, they have decided to adapt their contents to the digital environment.

The workshops on waste are taught throughout the course and are aimed at elementary and first cycle students of the ESO. The workshops are free of charge, coordinated by specialized personnel, and work on prevention, reuse, circular economy, responsible consumption, composting and separation of recycling, with special emphasis on organic matter, packaging, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and other everyday waste for students.

The Consortium also makes a responsible hamaiketako programme available to schools. In this way, through the direction and tutoring of the course and the center, the students receive the Bocat-Notebook ‘BokatON’ to reduce the generation of residuos.Para its distribution and use, both the center and the families must adopt a concrete commitment to use, in order to avoid the generation of waste in the school activity.