At least 70K school students to learn better waste management
Kolkata: The International Society of Waste Management, Air and Water (SWMAW), headed by Jadavpur University’s waste management expert Sadhan Ghosh, has set a target to make 70,000 students in schools across the state aware of better segregation and recycling methods.
The initiative ‘Catch Them Young- Zero Waste and Circular Economy in School Campus’ began on January 31 and has already evoked interest from 41 schools in the state. The programme was launched in eight schools in Nadia on Monday.
“We are providing three bins. Red bins are for dumping plastic and e-waste, blue or white bins for paper, pencil, wood etc., and green for food waste. The students and teachers will dispose of the waste in these designated bins to keep the school campus clean,” said Ghosh, president of SWMAW.
Awareness training was imparted to teachers and students of eight schools through two separate programmes at Pannalal Institution at Kalyani and Bishnupur Institution at Chakdaha. Ghosh said that schools will utilise their campus space for composting wet waste which can be used in vegetable gardens. Schools with space crunch will hand over the waste to urban or rural local bodies.
For dry waste disposal, SWMAW will connect with recyclers who will collect the waste once in a month or once in fifteen days and take them to recycling plants. Webel will be collecting the e-waste.
“The fund generated by the school through sale of this waste will be used for maintenance of the waste management facility. Students will learn that even waste has a value and can generate some income for them,” Ghosh added.
SWMAW will soon conduct workshops with students on recycling and reuse of waste. As per estimates, if student strength is 80 in a particular class, around 12 tonnes of waste will be reduced. It will prevent it from ending up in the dump yards which are anyway full.
“In the long run, this strategic disposal will contribute towards building a good and sustainable environment,” an optimistic Ghosh said.
