Akshar Recycling Centre of Solid Waste Launched at Pamohi

GUWAHATI, 29 May 2018: In a bid to maintain ecological balance, the Akshar School for the underprivileged today launched a recycle centre of solid waste at Pamohi, Guwahati. The installation of the plant has been supported by ERD Foundation, Guwahati and it has been inaugurated today by Mahbubul Hoque, the Chairman of ERD Foundation. Dr Alaka Sarma, Founder of Akshar Foundation and Parmita Nagen Sarma, Co-Founder & Associate Director of Akshar were present in the inauguration, apart from school children and community people of the neighbouring area.

“Akshar Forum is sensitive to the imbalances in the ecology. In this part of India, burning trash is kind of established practice. Even in higher middle class, educated neighbourhood, one comes across the dry trash being burnt, along with leaves and twigs, even plastic cups and polythene bags are also put to flame. The result is devastating. In our own city of Guwahati, we cannot see blue sky due to haze. The smoke so generated is harmful to the human body too. Its effect is like smoking 40 cigarettes a day, without taking a single puff”, said M Hoque, Chairman of ERDF, as he was addressing a gathering.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Alaka Sarma said, “The community which with Akshar works has the habit of burning trash. Our students being concerned about the precious gift of mother nature called environment, are deeply disturbed and as a result, we have come up with the plan of recycling the plastic waste generated by the community. The bio degradable waste can be disposed of by the families in their own area”.

Akshar Foundation is a Guwahati based registered public charitable trust engaged in poverty eradication through operation of schools that supplement formal education with vocational training, business incubation, and community development. Earlier, Akshar signed an MOU with ERDF where ERDF promised to support Akshar to launch its Recycling Centre, which shall consist of a collection service for dry waste in the communities served by the Akshar School, as well as a low-tech processing facility on the campus of Akshar School for sorting and reusing solid waste.

As per the MOU, ERDF shall facilitate in setting up an infrastructure to enable social enterprises associated with Akshar to sell food products and handmade products within USTM campus. The infrastructure will include, facility for hosting food carts and stalls for crafts and packaged food products on the UTSM campus; a space for storage of supplies, permission to operate gas cylinder stove, and access to a power outlet within the UTSM campus; and provision for an indoor space for stalls to operate with access to electric outlets and gas cylinder inside the UTSM campus.