After the intense national election campaign, the streets of Bangladesh were filled with leftover posters, banners, and festoons from the candidates' promotional efforts, covering alleyways, streets, and localities.
The Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) has estimated that around 27,000 tons of plastic-wrapped posters, banners, cards, and leaflets were used during the election campaign across the country. Now that the election is over, where will all this plastic waste go?
The Bidyanondo Foundation, known for its volunteer-driven initiatives, has come up with a solution. Continuing its tradition from previous years, including the efforts during the 2020 city corporation election, the foundation is gathering all the election-related plastic and paper materials from the streets, aiming to transform them into resources.
Regarding recycling the election waste, Bidyanondo Foundation Vice Chairman Faruque Ahmed said: "We are transforming posters made from paper into study materials like notebooks for 1,000 children in our orphanages, schools, and learning centres.”
The foundation is also using laminated posters and plastic election materials to make market bags and other items. This not only provides raw materials for cottage industries but also supports local artisans with materials like rope or twine.
"Thousands of underprivileged children in Bangladesh are dropping out of school due to a lack of educational materials. Our project of turning used posters, leaflets, and banners into notebooks aims to partially address this issue," he added.
Halima and Afsana are among the children who received the first batch of notebooks created from recycled election posters and banners.
Halima, who used to beg in Moghbazar, now lives in a juvenile shelter in Mirpur 11. She is a student at Bidyanondo School and expressed her joy upon receiving the notebooks.
Afsana was also rescued by Bidyanondo and lives in a juvenile shelter. She became lost from home as a child when she ran off to see an elephant, and she has no memory of her parents. Now a student at Bidyanondo, she recently expressed excitement about her new notebooks, wondering what she will write on these repurposed pages.
Regarding the foundation's plan for the distribution of these recycled notebooks, Faruque Ahmed said: "These will be provided to students of seven orphanages under Bidyanondo, including five in hilly areas and two in inland areas, benefiting around 400 students. Additionally, over 200 students from two Bidyanondo schools in Dhaka and Chittagong, along with 300 students from three learning centres in Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Narayanganj, will receive these notebooks."
He further said: "These students collectively need about 10,800 notebooks annually. Through recycling the election waste, we aim to produce around 10,000 notebooks. As students will be able to use only one side of these notebooks, this effort should cover three months of their notebook needs."
“This innovative project by the Bidyanondo Foundation not only addresses environmental concerns but also contributes significantly to the educational needs of underprivileged children," he said.
Bidyanondo workers are committed to their work. Since the election, they have been collecting street poster waste. After sorting, these posters go for recycling. About 1,00 volunteers are involved, some collecting and others processing posters.
In Dhaka and Chittagong, they use trucks with ladders and cutters for this task. People can also bring posters to Bidyanondo branches. They are focusing on unused posters, often from opposition candidates, and encouraging everyone to contribute.