At Académie Notre-Dame (Dalhousie, NB), recycling is far more than a school initiative — it’s a hands-on, student-driven success story that continues to grow year after year.
During the 2025–2026 school year, students collected an outstanding 54,000+ beverage containers (September 1, 2025-April 30, 2026) through Encorp Atlantic’s Recycling Heroes in School program, placing 1st among the top performing schools yet again for the third consecutive year. Their continued success reflects a strong culture of environmental responsibility and an exceptional level of student engagement.
Video (above): Some of the outstanding Recycling Ambassadors from Académie Notre-Dame from the 2025-2026 school year show us how they took charge of every step of their school’s beverage container collection and recycling system — and we are so impressed by their teamwork, leadership, and hard work. Bravo!
A Strong, Consistent System That Works
What sets Académie Notre-Dame apart is the exceptional level of student involvement at every stage of the recycling program. From collecting empty beverage containers in Encorp’s green Recycling Hero bins throughout the school to sorting, rinsing, and preparing them for pickup, students take full ownership of the process.
The program is primarily led each year by the Grade 5 class, under the supervision of Vice-Principal and Grade 5 teacher Nathalie Chouinard. This structure provides strong consistency and clear organization year after year. With teacher guidance, students rotate responsibilities on a weekly schedule so that everyone participates in each step of the process. This approach keeps operations running smoothly while ensuring all students gain equal hands-on experience and responsibility.
Over time, students have continuously refined and strengthened their system. While some of the more hands-on tasks — such as rinsing and cleaning containers — are less enjoyable, students carry them out with commitment and teamwork, ensuring that all containers are properly prepared for recycling and maximizing the funds earned through deposit refunds.
Looking ahead, the Recycling Heroes in School program will introduce even easier guidelines for the 2026–2027 school year. New streamlined instructions from Encorp will further simplify the process, including the ability to leave attached caps and straws on beverage containers. This means students will no longer need to remove these items from containers collected in the green Encorp Recycling Hero bins, making the sorting process a bit faster.
Learning Through Awareness and Leadership
Beyond collection and sorting, the Grade 5 student Recycling Ambassadors also play an important educational role within the school. They visit classrooms to promote proper recycling habits and reinforce correct sorting practices, while posters throughout the school support ongoing awareness. When mistakes happen, ambassadors step in with helpful reminders, ensuring the system stays effective and consistent. This peer-to-peer leadership helps reinforce good habits across the entire school community.
Supported by Strong Community Partnerships
The success of the program is made possible through strong community support. The school’s partner redemption centre, Billy’s Bottle Exchange, provides weekly pickup service for collected beverage containers, helping ensure a smooth and efficient recycling process throughout the school year.
In addition, the annual $300 Encorp program funding has enabled the school to purchase essential supplies such as gloves, bags, and additional bins, as well as to organize fun end of year experiences for students Recycling Ambassadors to recognize and celebrate their hard work and commitment.
Beyond the classroom, the school also extends its impact into the wider community through bottle drives and by encouraging direct donations of beverage containers. Community members can drop off containers at the school or contribute them directly to the school’s account at Billy’s Bottle Exchange. This approach helps capture additional containers that might not otherwise be returned, keeping them in the recycling stream and maximizing fundraising potential for the school.
Three Years of Top Performance
Académie Notre-Dame is proud to have been ranked among the top five schools in the Recycling Heroes in School program for multiple consecutive years — a remarkable achievement that reflects both consistency and a deep commitment from students and staff, along with earning them exciting prizes and rewards from Encorp each year along the way.
As recognition for placing among the top-performing schools during the 2025–2026 school year, Encorp awarded a $1,000 cheque to Académie Notre-Dame. Mme Chouinard shared that the school plans to spend the fund on having trees planted in their playground area to create a greener space.
Your Students Can Become Recycling Heroes Too
Académie Notre-Dame is one of many schools across New Brunswick taking part in Encorp’s Recycling Heroes in School program. Beverage container recycling is a simple, effective way to raise funds while giving students hands-on environmental leadership experience.
Submit an application through our website to get started.
