Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Waste Management Policy of schools in England; and if she will make an estimate of the number of schools that have policies in place to ensure that waste materials are recycled.

The Department does not currently collect data on waste management policies of schools in England. Due to the different services provided for recycling by Local Authorities, it is not possible to provide a national estimate.

In the sustainability and climate change strategy for the education system, the Department has set out its commitment to supporting schools to align with the Resources and Waste Strategy to reduce all waste, moving away from single use items and towards re-usable alternatives, wherever possible.

The Department will be supporting schools to establish climate action plans, which will set out the action they will take to enable greater sustainability in how their school operates, including waste management.