Divisions

Competition DivisionS

The Recycle-Bowl Competition is broken up into three division categories:

School Division (Statewide Competitions and National Title). Compete in this division if your school will be tracking only the recyclable materials it generates from within the school and the school may not solicit materials from the general public, home, businesses, groups, or organizations. Each state and the District of Columbia will have one winning school based on the weight of recyclable material collected per capita (students + teachers). This category only includes recyclables generated by the school. Only schools that report official weights (defined under the Tracking and Reporting section) are eligible to win the title.
Community Division (National competition only). Compete in this category if your school collects recyclable material not only from the school but from individuals, groups and organizations in its surrounding community, and may solicit and accept recyclable donations from parent’s homes or businesses, individuals, groups and organizations. The Abitibi Paper Retriever, SP Recycling or the Pepsi Recycle Rally are examples of a community recycling program. These schools will track the weight of their recyclables and divide it by their school’s per capita (defined under the Tracking and Reporting section) to compete nationally against other similarly categorized schools (rather than in the state champion category) that are eligible to win the title.
District Division (National competition only). Whole school districts that are unable to break out recycling data for each individual school can compete nationally against other school districts. Each district will track the weight of its recyclables and divide it by the total number of students, teachers and administrators. This category only includes recyclables generated by the district. Only districts that report official weights (defined under the Tracking and Reporting section) are eligible to win the title and compete against other similarly categorized districts.

ADDITIONAL COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES

The Bragging Rights Division is broken up into two categories:

Waste Reduction Champion (National Title). For those schools that are able to track and report not only the amount of traditional recyclables collected at the school but also the amount of trash collected, along with their per capita (students + teachers) we can calculate a waste reduction rate. This category does not include food scraps. One national winner will be chosen from this category for bragging rights. Cash prizes will NOT be given.
Food Scrap Collection Champion (National Title). Schools that are able to track and report the amount of food scraps being diverted from disposal, along with their per capita (students + teachers) can compete in this category. One national winner will be chosen from this category for bragging rights. Cash prizes will NOT be given.

Open Division

The Open Division is less formal and can accommodate schools that register late, don’t want to compete for a prize, home schools or are located in a U.S. territory, Canada or Mexico.

Open Division schools are not bound by the tracking and reporting standards. Open Division schools otherwise enjoy all the rights and have access to all promotional resources available from Recycle-Bowl’s website.

Though Open Division schools do not have their results included in the official rankings, they do have the ability to view their final weights in relation to other schools and classrooms. Open Division schools are encouraged to promote their Recycle-Bowl achievements to their local communities in general terms, but may not claim an official standing in the competition.

If you are unsure of which Division your school should fall into, please take a look at our comparison chart or email us.