Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic Vision, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
Like many other high schools, Los Gatos High School strives to make students better citizens who are knowledgeable about the impact of climate change. The issue is part of the school’s curriculum in advanced placement Environmental Science, Biology, Government, and English classes.
But when students need to dispose of their recyclable waste, there is no option but to toss everything into the solid waste garbage bin. The cafeteria serves food to around 1,200 students each day, creating a mountain of aluminum, plastic, and uneaten food. Yet composting, as well as recycling for aluminum and plastic, are not available options.The cafeteria recycling bins are padlocked shut during the day, with Los Gatos High offering recycling only for clean paper.
The school’s non-recycling stance contradicts California’s recycling laws. When the state’s Mandatory Commercial Recycling law took effect in June, 2012, public entities that generated a specified threshold of solid waste were required to “reuse, recycle, compost, or otherwise divert solid waste from disposal,” according to CalRecycle, the state entity responsible for recycling.
CalRecycle’s website clearly spells out the rules as they apply to schools: “Wherever recycling or organic waste is generated, a school must provide an appropriate container adjacent to the solid waste container to capture and divert recycling and organic waste. Containers must be easily accessible, visible, and clearly labeled.”
If the law is so straightforward, why isn’t the school complying?
A big issue was the contamination of the recycling bins with non-recyclable materials. Students were dumping non-recyclable garbage into the recycling bins to the point that, in 2021, the school’s Environmental Outreach Club decided to ask the school to padlock the bins to prevent students from disposing unsorted materials into them.
The school does collect recyclable paper in cardboard containers throughout the school – and the bins essentially are used as a collection point for that recycled clean paper – but not material generated from cafeteria lunches.
Despite acknowledging his familiarity with Senate Bill 1383, the state’s recycling legislation, Principal Kevin Buchanan stands firmly behind the school’s policy of non-compliance. “I occasionally notice one or two [recycling bins] with missing locks and I put in a work order to have them replaced,” he said.
CalRecycle only investigates school compliance if someone files a complaint. That’s something that rarely happens, to the degree that “Enforcement staff did not receive any complaints or referrals last year for school districts, so no local education agencies were evaluated in 2023,” said Lance Klug, a CalRecycle spokesperson.
Even as schools like Los Gatos High get a free pass on not recycling, the state is widening efforts to encourage recycling by passing laws as a new Edible Food Recovery law, which took effect on Jan. 1. It requires local education agencies with an on-site cafeteria to donate all uneaten and unused food to a food recovery organization and keep records about their donations.
Some students feel that the school could comply with recycling laws if it did a more aggressive job of educating students about what to recycle and how to properly do it.
“I think that we should have more clubs that teach people how to recycle. No one at our school has explained that type of stuff. ” said Kiana Mehrany, senior.
“I always see everyone throwing away the food and the trash in the same trash can,” said junior Haley Jung. “Nobody is doing recycling at the school except for paper, but I think that’s not going well.”
While some area schools have much more efficient recycling programs, the students have similar attitudes. Evergreen Valley High School Student Minh-Khang Le thinks his San Jose school’s program, which involves recycling bins that easily divide waste into trash recycling and composting, does a good job. However, he thinks that more people should be better educated on recycling, saying “some students don’t think too much about it and put everything in a nearby bin that looks like trash.”.
Amanda Robison, a student at Leigh High School in San Jose, mirrors Le’s beliefs, expressing concern that no matter what their school does, it is only as effective as the students’ willingness to actually recycle, saying “they’ll just throw stuff in whatever bin is closer.”
Meanwhile, unless anyone officially complains, Los Gatos High’s non-recycling approach is unlikely to change.
For those who want to take that step, CalRecycles spokesperson Klug says complaints may be filed online.