Education for Waste and Environment Workshop & Performances

The Waste initiatives team at Leicestershire County Council (LCC) are committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by Leicestershire residents. This requires us to engage with Leicestershire residents and bring about behavioural change. Key to this aim is providing education which enables and motivates residents to follow the waste hierarchy.

School age children account for approximately 18% of the Leicestershire population. Schools and Academies therefore provide an ideal forum to reach large numbers of Leicestershire residents who impact the amount of waste sent to disposal now, and who will continue to do so for years to come. This audience also have the potential to influence the behaviour of others in their household and enhance the impact of engagement activities targeted at them.

Leicestershire covers an area of approximately 800 miles2. This area is sub-divided into seven District Council areas. A unique range of waste materials is collected for recycling in each district. There are 302 Schools and Academies within Leicestershire, ranging from large to small, urban to rural in nature. Leicestershire County Council currently offers Schools and Academies free access to talks, presentations and educational activities which are delivered by LCC staff and volunteers. Activities cover a wide range so as to meet the wide ranging needs of differing audiences, but are focused on the broad themes of general waste prevention, reuse and recycling, composting and food waste prevention.

For a number of years the Waste initiatives team has employed third parties to deliver schools work which reinforce our message on these themes. This includes but is not limited to the provision of free theatre in education workshops to Leicestershire schools. These workshops have focused on waste prevention, reuse and recycling with the intention of increasing awareness of waste and recycling issues, and to increase the household recycling performance of Leicestershire residents in accordance with the range of materials collected for recycling in the appropriate area.

The purpose of this document is to outline the requirements of Leicestershire County Council for the provision of waste education activities delivered on behalf of the Waste initiatives team, and to provide interested parties with details to inform and develop a quote for services they can deliver during 2019/20, with potential to extend those services into 2020/21 and 2021/22 in accordance with the needs of the Waste initiatives team.