Campus Report :
A workshop on Household Solid Waste Management and Recycling was held recently at American Standard International School (ASIS) at North Baridhara Road in the capital organized by the Value for Waste (HSWMP) project of Swisscontact.
The event was divided into two sessions; where the teachers and the students took part. The first session was with the students of class 1 to 3 and the other session was for class 4 to 7. All the students from class 1 to 7 were invited in the auditorium for attending the session where the project team from Swisscontact directed the event by delivering a demonstration about waste management, playing games and doing craft works with the students and showing an animated video presentation.
The Value for Waste project (HSWMP) focuses on reducing amounts of waste discarded while improving the work conditions of actors in the recycling value chain. The approach focuses on keeping the value of recyclables intact by (a) raising awareness and facilitating source segregation of different types of waste and recyclables in households and (b) insuring that separate collection takes place in an efficient and safe way.
Thus the fraction of waste recycled is increased, leading to a cleaner, healthier environment and to sector growth and job creation along the recycling value chain. Organic recyclables separated will be used for composting and converted into fertilizer, which can enrich and preserve the health of the soil.
Experience from countries around the world has shown that behavior change for recycling takes time and persistence, but that successful models will rapidly trigger adoption from surrounding areas.
Baridhara Residential Area was chosen as a first implementation area for the Value for Waste project as the Executive Committee and Civic Amenities Sub-committee of Baridhara Society as well as surveyed residents showed strong willingness, commitment and capacity to further improve their existing waste management system and become a learning model for other neighborhoods. The Value for Waste project (HSWMP) will be further developed and implemented in various neighborhoods of Dhaka from 2014 onwards.
