Saving environment, profiting from waste

Heaps of waste plastic materials collected from different areas of the town (left) are being processed into plastic granules at Abdur Rahman's factory (right). PHOTO: STAR

The initiative came from Abdur Rahman, who earlier worked as a labourer at a plastic factory at Islampur in Dhaka for three years.

He now employs 70 people at his factory at the Nandanpur BSCIC Industrial State in the town and generates livelihood for over 200 others, who collect waste plastic materials.

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The factory buys the waste plastic materials collected from ponds, canals, ditches, fields, drains and dustbins at between Tk 12 and 16 per kilogram, depending on category. It purchased 12,197 kilograms of waste plastic materials from the collectors in the last 15 days, factory manager SK Jamal Uddin said.

These are washed, dried, mixed with chemicals and then turned into granules in machines.

A portion of the granules is used for making plastic pots and the rest is supplied to some plastic factories in Dhaka.

The factory produces around 1000 water pots and cans a day and supplies around 500 kilograms of granule to Dhaka at the rate of Tk 10 to 15 per kilogram.

Abdur Rahman said he has not plot in the BSCIC estate and has set up the factory with his partner Ataur Rahman Pinto who owns the plot.

He has a plan to expand the factory soon. "Only hard work and sincerity pays", he said.

Besides keeping the town clean of such waste materials, this has removed water-logging problem from many areas as drains and sewerage lines no more remain clogged.

Plastic pots, filled with rainwater, are also good breeding grounds for Aedis mosque, carrier of deadly Dengue virus.

Numerous waste plastic bottles were seen floating on waterbodies in and around the town earlier. This is not seen now.