Excerpt from the article:
Taiwan is well known as a manufacturer of high-tech goods, and Taipei 101 has become an internationally recognized symbol of the nation’s economic achievements. But Taiwan has also achieved a benchmark of social progress that is lesser known, but equally impressive: It has the highest recycling rate in the world.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/06/22/2003415405

I have used recycling as a project in our classes. I tell them to bring in recyclables that we can sell (aluminum, steel, paper, bottles, batteries). We collect them for a couple of weeks, then sell them off and use the proceeds to buy snacks or other classroom fun stuff.