Lincoln Middle School introduced a student-designed cafeteria recycling system Monday that could be a model for reducing waste throughout Portland schools.

Superintendent Jim Morse joined students, school staff, parents and others at the school to kick off the pilot program.

Additional Photos

Portland Superintendent of Schools Jim Morse shows the amount of Styrofoam waste generated each day at Lincoln Middle School as part of the recycling program introduction.
Portland Superintendent of Schools Jim Morse shows the amount of Styrofoam waste generated each day at Lincoln Middle School as part of the recycling program introduction. John Ewing/Staff Photographer
A student recycles a paper lunch tray Monday as Lincoln Middle School in Portland kicked off its cafeteria recycling pilot program.
A student recycles a paper lunch tray Monday as Lincoln Middle School in Portland kicked off its cafeteria recycling pilot program. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Students created a separation system for recycling paper-based lunch trays, milk cartons and other items.

The recycling program is a joint effort by the school district, Huhtamaki Packaging of Waterville, which donated several thousand trays made of recycled paper, and the KIDS Consortium of Auburn, which gave a $750 Green School grant for the project.

The idea of replacing the old trays with recyclable ones arose from a service-learning project at Lyman Moore Middle School.

Robert Lindsay, a science teacher at Lincoln, worked with his seventh-graders to design the recycling program.

 

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