Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune in: What materials can be recycled?

25 minutes

Find out: Understanding materials in terms of recyclability and the circular economy

15 minutes

Take action: Use the rubric to determine the suitability of materials.

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune in: What materials can be recycled?

Step 1. Begin by creating a T-Chart on the board. Label one column 'recyclable'. Label the other column 'non-recyclable'.

Step 2. Hold up the waste items you have collected, starting with the items made from one material (e.g. glass jar or cardboard packaging). Sort these materials into one side of the t-chart. Most items made from one material are easier to recycle, so it may be that all the items you have chosen that are made from one material end up in the 'recyclable' column.

You can then hold up any waste items made from more than one material (such as a juice box or disposable coffee cup). Again invite students to decide whether these items are recyclable or non-recyclable. Explain to students that when items are made from more than one material it is harder to recycle them. A coffee cup looks like cardboard but has a plastic inner lining (pull it out to demonstrate), and a juice box may have cardboard, plastic, aluminium and a straw. In many places, these items are non-recyclable.

Step 3. Now focus student attention on the materials in their classroom. Are the following items recyclable or non-recyclable:

chairs
tables
shelves
whiteboard
windows
walls
carpet
floor
bricks
concrete
metal sink
plastic pipes

Encourage vigorous debate about the recyclability of various materials. Ask students to explain the processes involved in recycling different materials. They might not know. It sounds like something we'll have to investigate!

You can circle or put a question mark next to any materials you're still unsure whether you can recycle.

Step 4. Now focus student attention on the last of the materials on the list above; plastic pipes. Explain to students that most plastic pipes in Australia are composed of thermoplastic. Thermoplastics are plastics made from one material that can be melted down and reused over and over again. So in this way, they form a closed loop (find out more about closing the loop and the circular economy here). Plastic pipes are designed to be recycled over and over again.

Pose the following questions to students:

Why is recyclability an important consideration for pipe design?
Suggested answer: The plastic used for making pipes is a precious resource, and to align with the circular economy, you want to close the loop by making sure at the end of life/use it can be recycled back into a long-life product. This means that we do not have to take more resources from the environment, which results in less environmental harm. Recyclability is also one of the 4 design principles of the circular economy (1. designed for long life, 2. repairable, 3. reusable, 4. recyclable) - achieving all of these in the design of a pipe means the pipe will have the least environmental impact possible.
So, what percentage of the pipe should be recyclable for it to be considered sustainable? Will we accept less than 100%? Why or why not?

Find out: How are materials recycled?

Step 1. Place students into 5 groups (or a number of groups that is divisible by 5). Assign each student a different pipe material from the list below. Make sure each material is assigned to a group.

Note: Where students have completed this lesson or this lesson try to ensure they are either in different groups or are assigned to a different material.

Pipe materials:

metal (steel)
leather (like the Romans used!)
wood
clay (like what plates and bricks are made from)
heavy-duty fabric

Step 2. Each group needs to conduct research to answer the questions below. Students could work together to answer the questions, or they could divide the questions between them. The questions are available on the Student Worksheet:

What processes need to be in place to recycle a pipe in general? For example, you would need things in place to dig up the pipe and transport it to a recycling plant. You might also be required to store the material for some time. At the other end of the process, you are trying to ensure these pipes are part of a closed-loop system, where the pipes are processed and turned back into new pipes.
What processes need to be in place to recycle a pipe made of your material? Is there anything unique about this material compared to others? For example, for wood, you might need wood chipping and pulping infrastructure.
Explain the process of recycling this material in as much detail as you can, including the manufacturing process and whether 'new' materials are also required.

Some resources that could be useful for research include (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Metal (steel)

Leather

Wood

Clay

Heavy duty fabric

The impact of textile production and waste on the environment
A Guide to the Most and Least Sustainable Fabrics
Future Proofing Australia’s Fashion and Textile Industry with the Circular Economy

Differentiation: Groups could divide up the work of researching and recording answers between them, based on their preferences. In this case, allow them some time to share and clarify their answers with their group.

Step 3. Now ask students to imagine they just got a job at a pipe-making factory where the factory owner insists that all pipes be made of this material.

What suggestions would students have to make the material they are looking at suitable in terms of the following circular economy design principles:

designed for a long life
repairable
reusable
recyclable

Students will need to think about the processes they would introduce to support each of these principles.

Students will work in their groups to investigate these solutions and report on them using the Student Worksheet. Many of these solutions will already exist in the real world, but some will require creative thinking.

Remember, we're not looking for the most efficient or cost-effective solutions. We'll probably prove how ill-suited this material is to use for making pipes.

Step 4. Now, have students look at how/why plastic pipes are recycled.

Share the following video:

Construction Plastics Recycling Scheme - Reducing PVC Waste in the Construction Industry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fir3hhg-OwM)

Note: You can learn more about the Construction Plastics Recycling Scheme here.

Step 5. Groups will now explore plastic as a suitable material for pipes regarding recyclability and the circular economy by answering the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet). They can use the links below to help them in their research:

what processes need to be in place to recycle a plastic pipe made of your material?
explain the process of recycling this material in as much detail as you can.

Websites:

Step 6. Each group can share their research with another group to compare their results and ensure they all know as much as they can about recycling plastic pipes.

Take action: Determine the suitability of materials for recyclability

Step 1. Explain to students that they will now focus on the 4th circular economy design principle: recyclability. Still working in their groups, students will now evaluate the recyclability of the two materials they researched. The two materials they will be assessed will be plastic and the material researched in the first task (e.g. wood, leather, metal, ceramics, or heavy-duty fabric).

When students have completed this lesson, they can use the rubric they created in this lesson.

Otherwise, students can use an alternative rating system. Using the Materials Recyclability Rating worksheet, each group needs to rate the material they looked at using the following points, choosing a rating from 1 to 5, where 1 means very poor and 5 means outstanding:

how easy is it to prepare this material for recycling (i.e. does it need to be treated before recycling, or do some parts need to be removed first)
how easy is it to take this material and turn it into a new product (i.e. is it as easy as melting it down and turning it into a new shape)
how durable the newly created product is (i.e. sometimes the recycling process may weaken a material)

Groups should add their ratings next to each point on the worksheet. They can then add up the scores to get a final tally.

It may be that groups find it hard to agree on a score for each point; this may mean they need to undertake further research to clarify their understanding of the material they are assessing.

Step 2. They should then repeat this process, this time rating the recyclability of plastic pipes.

Create a table on the board like the following:

	Group 1 - Metal	Group 2 - Leather	Group 3 - Wood	Group 4 - Clay	Group 5 - Fabric
Material final score
Plastic final score

Record each group's tally results on the board.

Extend: You could invite students to calculate the mean for the plastic scores. This could help to satisfy the numeracy component in this lesson.

Step 3. Now discuss:

which material scores the highest?
which material would you recommend be used for making recyclable pipes?

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to respond to the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Do you think the rating system or rubric you used was a good way to assess how well something could be recycled? Would you say it gave an accurate result? Why or why not?

Differentiation

Some opportunities for differentiation are included throughout this lesson. In addition, students requiring extension could be encouraged to explore conduct an analysis of more than one material or choose a different material altogether.

Recyclability of Pipes

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Summary

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Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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