Waste and Recycling: Class 5 Study Guide
Everything we throw away has to go somewhere. Good habits keep our towns clean and our planet healthy.
A typical household produces waste every day. Some of it, like vegetable peels, rots away. Other things, like plastic, stay for hundreds of years.
Sorting waste at home makes recycling easier and keeps landfills smaller.
Types of waste
| Type | Examples | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Biodegradable (wet) | Vegetable peels, leaves, leftover food | Compost it |
| Non-biodegradable (dry) | Plastic, metal, glass, paper | Recycle or reuse |
| Hazardous | Batteries, medicines, bulbs | Give to a special collection |
| E-waste | Old phones and chargers | Give to an authorised collector |
The three Rs
Reduce means using less, for example carrying a cloth bag. Reuse means using something again, like making a pen stand from a tin. Recycle means turning waste into new things, such as old paper into new paper. Reducing comes first because it makes the least waste.
Buy only what you need.
Find a second use.
Send it to be made into something new.
Compost
Wet kitchen waste can be turned into compost, a dark, crumbly food for plants. Put peels and leaves in a pit or a pot, add dry leaves, keep it a little damp and wait a few weeks. Earthworms and microbes break the waste down. Compost makes the soil richer and cuts the rubbish we send away.
Worked examples and common mistakes
Example: Is a banana peel biodegradable? Yes, it rots and can go into compost. Example: Which of the three Rs is best? Reduce. Common mistakes: putting plastic in compost, mixing wet and dry waste, and burning rubbish, which makes the air dirty.
Check your understanding: model answers
1. It can rot naturally. 2. Use it as a pencil holder or to store food. 3. It makes the least waste in the first place.
✨ Key Takeaways
- Sort waste into wet, dry and hazardous.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle.
- Compost turns kitchen waste into plant food.
- Never burn or dump waste.
💬 Questions for Discussion & Reflection
- What does biodegradable mean?
- Give one way to reuse a glass jar.
- Why is reducing the best of the three Rs?