Lesson 4 ·Class 9 · Waste Generation and Management · Sort Lab
Segregation and Composting
Sorting waste at the point it is made.
Sort each item into the right bin at home.
Sorted 0/10
All items sorted — check each bin.
Free play — sort every item into the bin it belongs in; each correct drop tells you why. Switch to when you're ready to test yourself.
Segregation must happen at the source. Once wet food waste mixes with dry recyclables, neither can be recovered properly.
What this lesson covers
What you do
- Soiled paper is the surprise — clean paper is recyclable, but greasy paper belongs with the compost.
Challenges to clear
- Fill the Hazardous bin correctly.
- Sort every item.
- Fill the Biodegradable box — the waste that nature can break down.
The task
Sort each item into the right bin at home.
What this lesson covers
- Biodegradable — Green bin — can be composted: Fruit and vegetable peel (Decays quickly and makes excellent compost.); Fallen leaves and garden trimmings (Ideal composting material — no need to send it away at all.); Soiled paper napkins and food-stained paper (Too contaminated to recycle, but it will compost.)
- Non-biodegradable — Blue bin — recyclable: Plastic bottles and containers (Recyclable if clean and dry, but it never decomposes.); Glass bottles and jars (Endlessly recyclable without losing quality.); Metal tins and foil (Recycling aluminium uses a small fraction of the energy of making it new.)
- Hazardous — Must be handled separately: Used batteries (They contain heavy metals that leach into soil and water.); Expired medicines (They contaminate water supplies and can drive antibiotic resistance.); CFL bulbs and tube lights (They contain mercury vapour, which is released if they break.); Leftover paint and solvents (Toxic and often flammable — never down a drain.)
Hint
Segregation must happen at the source. Once wet food waste mixes with dry recyclables, neither can be recovered properly.