Imagine a classroom where learners see waste not as rubbish, but as a resource, where every piece of packaging sparks a conversation about responsibility, innovation, and care for the planet. That’s the power of teaching Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
EPR is transforming how South Africa approaches waste by ensuring that producers take responsibility for their products from start to finish. This guide is here to help. It brings together practical ideas, teaching resources, and inspiring stories to support educators who want to weave EPR and sustainability into everyday learning.
What Is EPR, and Why Does It Matter?
EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility, means companies must manage the impact of their products throughout the lifecycle, including after use. In South Africa, EPR applies to six main sectors:
- Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE)
- Lighting
- Paper and packaging
- Portable batteries
- Lubricant oils
- Pesticides
In simple terms, EPR helps reduce the waste going to landfills, encourages recycling, and even creates new green jobs. For teachers, it opens the door to powerful learning opportunities, connecting environmental science to economics, technology, social justice, and more.
When learners understand how everyday items are made, used, and disposed of, they start to see how their choices can help protect the planet and support their communities.
Bringing EPR into the South African Curriculum
The good news? You don’t need to create extra lessons to teach sustainability; it’s already built into the CAPS curriculum. Environmental education appears across subjects like Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, Geography, and Life Skills.
From Grade R, learners start exploring recycling and reusing. By Grade 3, they’re learning about composting and waste management. That means EPR fits perfectly into what you’re already teaching.
For example:
- In Science or Geography, you can discuss how EPR reduces pollution and protects ecosystems.
- In Maths, learners can collect and analyse recycling data from their school.
- In Life Orientation, classes can explore how recycling creates jobs and supports waste pickers, turning sustainability into a social story, not just an environmental one.
Environmental education isn’t meant to stand alone. It’s meant to flow across subjects, connecting real-world challenges with classroom learning.
The eWASA-WESSA Partnership: Helping Schools Lead the Way
When it comes to environmental education in action, the partnership between the EPR Waste Association of South Africa (eWASA) and the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) is truly game-changing.
Through WESSA’s popular Eco-Schools Programme, eWASA supports schools across the country to become champions of sustainability. Together, they’ve launched “Waste Smart Schools” in the Western Cape and Gauteng, helping learners take the lead on waste reduction projects, recycling drives, and community awareness campaigns.
The Eco-Schools framework follows seven simple steps: form an eco-committee, identify an issue, plan an action, monitor progress, link it to the curriculum, and involve parents and the community. It’s practical, empowering, and incredibly rewarding.
Fun and Practical Teaching Ideas
Here are some creative ways to bring EPR and sustainability to life in your classroom:
Take Learning Beyond the Classroom
Arrange visits to local recycling plants or landfills. Through the eWASA-WESSA partnership, schools have toured facilities such as Interwaste in Germiston, where learners see how waste is sorted, recycled, and even turned into energy. These trips turn abstract ideas into real-world learning moments.
Host a “Trashion Show”
Encourage learners to design outfits made entirely from recycled materials. Schools have hosted these during Women’s Month and Cleanup and Recycle Week, celebrating creativity while inspiring conversations about consumerism and waste.
Use Fundisa for Change Resources
This national programme offers free, CAPS-aligned resources that make it easier to integrate sustainability into different subjects. It includes topic units, teaching strategies, and assessment ideas — all teacher-friendly and ready to use.
Turning Ideas into Action
It’s one thing to teach about sustainability; it’s another to live it. Here are a few ways your school can walk the talk:
- Start a recycling station for paper, plastic, glass, and e-waste. Let learners manage it and track how much they collect each term.
- Invite local recyclers or Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) to give talks or demos. Real stories inspire real action.
- Highlight the role of waste pickers. Many learners don’t realise how vital these workers are to South Africa’s recycling system. Teaching about their contribution encourages empathy and social awareness.
- Think about product lifecycles. Get learners to investigate where products come from, how long they last, and how they can be reused or repaired instead of thrown away.
- Go digital! Follow the eWASA Waste Smart Schools programme online for resources, updates, and campaign ideas.
Growing as a Teacher: Training and Recognition
You don’t have to figure it all out alone. The Fundisa for Change programme offers professional development and accredited training to help teachers confidently teach environmental topics.
And if your school joins the Eco-Schools Programme, you can also earn recognition for your efforts through annual awards that celebrate outstanding environmental projects. It’s a wonderful way to motivate learners and to celebrate the hard work you’re doing as a teacher.
Measuring Impact and Celebrating Success
The numbers tell an inspiring story: since 2003, WESSA’s Eco-Schools Programme has reached more than 4 500 schools, involving 1.2 million learners and 45 500 teachers across South Africa.
Together, these schools have planted trees, built food gardens, collected waste, and reduced their environmental footprint, all while shaping a generation that cares deeply about sustainability.
Through the eWASA-WESSA partnership, the results go even further: tracking recycling rates, waste reduction, and the positive impact on communities and green jobs. Teachers can encourage learners to record and analyse these changes, turning sustainability projects into real data-driven learning experiences.
Every Classroom Can Change the Future
Teaching sustainability isn’t just about recycling. It’s about reimagining the future. By introducing EPR principles into your classroom, you’re helping learners see that every choice matters: what we buy, what we throw away, and how we take responsibility for our planet.
Teachers have the power to ignite that spark. Every project, every discussion, and every learner who sees waste differently helps build a cleaner, greener South Africa.
So why wait?
Join the Eco-Schools Programme through WESSA, connect with eWASA for resources and partnerships, and turn your classroom into a space where sustainability thrives.
Together, we can inspire a generation to build a circular, sustainable, and hopeful future for South Africa.
