Woodridge SHS: From Waste to Workforce - A Journey of Transformation
Our Vision in Action: Woodridge State High School truly embodies Climate Action Schools' vision of "Redesigning Success: People and planet, thriving together," by transforming waste into opportunity and empowering its students.
Woodridge SHS Vision/Values: Learners Today, Leaders Tomorrow. Empowered, Resilient and World Changing
The Challenge & Opportunity: Woodridge SHS, like many schools, want to enact their Carbon plan and become more sustainable. Also facing significant waste management costs and a desire to provide students with practical, impactful STEM learning experiences, our Climate Action Schools program offered a unique opportunity to address both, turning their resource stream into a 'live' learning hub.
The Climate Action Schools Solution: Woodridge SHS established an on-site Sustainability Skills Centre (SSC), implementing an industry production process for resource recovery using industry partners and functional sustainability tools (LEAN)
Key Achievements & Impact (Updated May 2025):
Environmental: Achieved an incredible 75% diversion of student resources from landfill, with 99% organics recovery and decontaminated recycling.
Economic: Realised a 65% reduction in student waste removal costs, saving the school approximately $27,000 annually. The P&C and Scouts now share income from Containers for Change (approx. $400/month).
Social: Cleaners, including those from migrant and refugee backgrounds, volunteered and gained profound insights into global waste issues, sparking a commitment to change .
Staff Empowerment: Business Manager Andrew Byrne and the cleaning team demonstrated outstanding leadership in continuous improvement, teamwork and increased the cultural maturity of the operations team.
Functional Sustainability in Action: Industry tools like Take 5 personal safety, 5S organization, 8 Wastes, 5 Whys, and Fishbone problem-solving are being used by the team and being applied in other parts of the school.
What's Next: Woodridge SHS continues to refine its SSC operations, serving as a beacon for other schools and is on a continuous improvement journey.
Discover how your school can achieve similar results: