The Circular Revolution is here — and it's already working
Two Queensland schools quietly did something remarkable over the past 18 months. They stopped sending money to landfill.
One of them — Woodridge State High School — diverted 76% of their waste from landfill, saved $27,000 in waste costs and earned $6,000 in circular income. When their business manager Andrew left over 12 months ago, they were sitting at 56% diversion. Without him, without a champion pushing it, the number didn't fall. It climbed. They're now at 76% and still improving. That's not a pilot program result. That's a system working exactly as it should. Andrew recently shared these learnings at the School Business Managers Conference on the Gold Coast.
The other school — Shailer Park State High School — took a different approach. Teachers and operations staff worked together and made one simple change: like they moved the bins to the doors so cleaners didn't have to go looking for them. That single shift saved two hours every day. From there, the innovations kept coming. The teacher leading the program, Ineke, was named Teacher of the Year.
Two schools. Two completely different applications. Both transformed.
We’ve learnt the lessons, and produced the resources
Climate Action Schools founder Jules McMurtrie is direct about what the pilot taught her.
"It's smart, like Queensland, to be recycling, repairing, repurposing and renewing rather than take, make, use and then waste. The linear economy is no longer sustainable and we must move now. It's not as difficult as you think — and we can help."
The pilot wasn't perfect. There were mistakes, wrong turns, and hard lessons. But that's exactly the point — those lessons are now baked into the program so the next 140 schools don't have to repeat them.
The single biggest insight? It doesn't take extra time. It takes a change of behaviour.
That distinction matters enormously for schools already stretched thin. This isn't another initiative piled on top of everything else. It's a smarter way of doing what your school already does — managing waste, running operations, engaging students.
Why operations first — and why that changes everything
Most sustainability programs in schools land on a teacher's desk. The teacher champions it. The teacher leaves. The program dies.
The Circular Revolution is designed differently. The divert and earn system is embedded into school operations first — led by business managers, operations teams and the people most schools overlook entirely: the cleaners.
Cleaners are the unsung heroes of this program. They are the ones who make diversion happen every single day. The Circular Revolution brings their contribution to the fore — and when they're supported, briefed and valued, the results speak for themselves. Woodridge's continuous improvement after Andrew's departure is the clearest evidence of that. The system held because the people closest to it owned it.
Once operations are running smoothly, the Sustainability Skills Centre opens up. Teachers can use the live divert and earn program as a real-world STEM learning environment or as a simulated workplace for delivering VET qualifications. The learning becomes richer because it's real.
What is the circular economy — and why should your school care?
Here's a question worth sitting with: what does your school do with its waste?
If the answer is "put it in a bin and pay someone to take it away" — you're not alone. That's how most of Australia operates. It's called the linear economy. Take, make, use, waste. It's the system we've all grown up in, and it's costing schools money every single day.
The circular economy works differently. Instead of materials becoming waste, they stay in circulation — through recycling, reuse, repair, repurposing, and composting. Nothing leaves the loop if it doesn't have to.
The good news? Your school is already generating the raw materials of a circular economy every single day. You just haven't been paid for them yet.
Three things your school throws away that are worth money:
♻️ Aluminium cans — aluminium is one of the most valuable recyclable materials on the planet. It can be recycled infinitely without losing quality. Every can your students crush and toss in a general waste bin is money in the bin.
📄 White paper — office paper and classroom paper is a high-value recycling stream. Separated and collected correctly, it generates circular income rather than landfill costs.
🍶 Glass — bottles and jars collected and returned through container deposit schemes generate direct cash returns. In Queensland, that's 10 cents per container.
These aren't small numbers when you multiply them across a school of 1,000 students, 365 days a year.
As Jules McMurtrie from Climate Action Schools puts it: "It's smart, like Queensland, to be recycling, repairing, repurposing and renewing rather than take, make, use and then waste. The linear economy is no longer sustainable and we must move now. It's not as difficult as you think — and we can help." The Circular Revolution is how your school makes the shift — practically, operationally and profitably.
👉 Read the full story at www.climateactionschools.com
The Circular Revolution is proudly supported by Cummins.