Over the last year, WG III investigated various processes and activities at the Rajbandh open dump site, the only active final waste disposal site for Khulna city. Now, the team will start monitoring and quantifying plastic emissions in the form of wind-blown litter and washed-out material. On 13.11.2023, the WG III team, Pangkaj Kumar, Salahuddin Setu, Tasnova Imam, Saptarshi Mondal and Senta Berner visited the disposal site and outlined a first monitoring protocol, as well as necessary improvements along the fence line and embankments to ensure quantifiable sample collection. The team also tested a drone which will be part of the monitoring, especially to gauge the impact of extreme weather events on waste body movement and plastic emissions.
On the 9th of November 2023, the civil engineering faculty of KUET inaugurated their new research hub building. The building will host the SCIP Plastics Knowledge Transfer Hub, including all working group members and the Waste Lab. Prof. Eckhard Kraft and Gregor Biastoch joined the celebration as special guests and speakers in the inauguration panel. The hub building and its facilities are fully dedicated to the research field of solid and plastic waste management showing KUET’s commitment to address this issue in the coming years.
The 3rd Board of Directors meeting was hosted by the CUET SCIP-team and took place in Cox’s Bazar on the 4th of November. The project leaders, Prof. Eckhard Kraft (BUW), Prof. Farzana Zuthi (CUET), Prof. Rafizul Islam (KUET) and Mr. Abir Ul Jabbar (KCC), as well as scientific experts reviewed and discussed the project progress presented by the working group leads and heads of the waste lab and awareness center. As an extraordinary member of the scientific expert panel, Prof. Jörg Londong (BUW) gave valuable insights to further improve project outputs.
Board of Directors Meeting, 04.11.2023 (source: Gregor Biastoch)
From October 1st to 3rd, the Awareness Centre team comprising Sheikh Enjamamul Haque, Ankon Singh, Fahima Akter, S. M. Nahin Rahaman, Md. Mobashar Hossain and Md. Shimul, along with ISOE researchers Dr.-Ing. Martin Zimmermann and Jonathan Pillen, facilitated two workshops. The main objective was to develop future visions for sustainable plastic waste management in Khulna.
Stakeholders from different fields of expertise came together to create visual maps of the most important aspects of plastic waste management in Khulna. In a first session, the current situation was discussed and mapped, with a particular focus on problematic aspects that might currently hinder more sustainable solutions, e.g. lack of awareness or lack of infrastructure. In a second session, these ‘problem maps’ were used as a starting point. Participants then identified necessary changes to the current system to achieve a sustainable and desirable future vision of plastic waste management in Khulna. Both workshops – the first in English, the second in Bangla – were successful not only in terms of the scientific data generated, but also in terms of the knowledge transfer and a shared understanding among the various participants. And last but not least: The use of constellation analysis combined with a world café format resulted in a mindful exchange and even some fun.
On August 21st, 2023, the Awareness Centre (AWC) Team organized a Source Separation Workshop and Pre-campaign Program for the students of KUET School. The primary focus of this workshop was to educate students about the various ways they can participate in reducing plastic waste and promoting sustainable practices.
The session emphasized the importance of implementing environmentally-friendly practices to mitigate the negative impacts of plastic waste on the environment. By encouraging the adoption of sustainable practices, students can play a significant role in promoting a cleaner and healthier environment for both present and future generations.
Additionally, during the session, the AWC team discussed upcoming events, including a poster presentation, campus cleaning, and a rally. To foster creativity and engagement, the AWC team provided students with papers and colored pens, allowing them to create posters related to plastic pollution. The students enthusiastically participated in the workshop.
Recently, within the SCIP project, an awareness-raising initiative has resulted in the creation of two SCIP corners. The design rests upon repurposed plastic bottles, particularly those used for beverages. The construction utilizes a total of 1144 reused plastic bottles, including 630 white, 364 brown, and 150 green PET bottles. Its design aims to exemplify the capacity for integrating discarded materials into construction methodologies, simultaneously addressing environmental concerns, and encouraging thinking outside the box to be receptive to novel ideas regarding waste management. This structure is planned to serve as a platform for presenting the SCIP Plastics Project on various occasions, such as conferences, campaigns, and observance days. It functions as a hub for disseminating knowledge, communicating research outcomes, displaying innovative products and more.
In August, an awareness campaign entitled ‘Embracing Alternatives: Promoting Jute Usage as a Sustainable Substitute for Plastic.’ was held as part of the SCIP Plastics Project. This awareness program focused on ‘Preventing Plastic Pollution and Efficient Management’ and took place on August 14th, at CUET School and College.
The event garnered an impressive lineup of attendees, with the Vice-Chancellor of the CUET, Professor Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Alam, serving as the chief guest. The event’s organization was managed by Professor Dr. Farzana Rahman Zuthi, the Scientific Director of the SCIP Plastics Project, who played a pivotal role in bringing the event to realization.
It commenced with an opening speech by Prof. Sudip Kumar Pal, a scientific expert of the SCIP Plastics Project, who addressed the importance of raising awareness about plastic pollution among students and teachers. To promote sustainable behavior among students, they were provided with Jute bags as a biodegradable alternative to single-use plastic bags. Subsequently, other appreciated guests delivered insightful speeches, underscoring the necessity of proper plastic waste management. Professor Dr. Farzana Rahman Zuthi announced that such programs will be conducted regularly, marking just the beginning of their efforts. The program concluded with a lunch session, fostering engagement and dialogue on the urgent issue of plastic pollution.
The use of Near-Infrared (NIR) technology is widely used in automated waste sorting industries due to its ability to quickly and accurately identify and categorize different types of materials. These scanners emit light in the near-infrared spectrum and measure the reflected or transmitted light from the waste materials. Each material has a unique absorption pattern, allowing the scanner to determine the type of plastic material. The SCIP Plastics team from the Waste Lab now operates a handheld NIR scanner that can be used universally, not only to investigate purity levels or qualities, as in materials science, but also to identify different types of plastics in mixed solid waste.
However, contrary to the industry, automation of waste sorting is not the aim of our research. We aim to create a knowledge pool of information about the types of plastics present in our environment. What types of plastics end up in our environment and what damage do they cause? What possibilities for prevention are available to us and how can we evaluate them? With the vast variety of different plastic materials, properties, and production methods, we need to find numerous treatment approaches, since there is no “one size fits all” solution. We urgently require more analytics to ensure safe and healthy treatment options to develop knowledge-based countermeasures.
In June, Senta Berner (BUW), Philipp Lorber (BUW) and Heide Kerber (ISOE) travelled to Bangladesh to meet with the SCIP Team at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology and Khulna City Corporation. Various excursions, workshops and working group meetings were on the agenda.
An important task during the visit was the further development of environmental monitoring at the open dumpsite Rajbandh. During an on-site visit, the fencing was examined and appropriate approaches for the monitoring of plastic emissions were derived. The team also visited the Sholua landfill site, which is currently under construction and will be the first sanitary landfill in the region. At the end of the stay, the German team conducted a workshop on source-separated waste in the project’s own Awareness Centre, where the SCIP-Team discussed the various challenges, both in the technical and socio-cultural context.
I’m Sadia Afreen, from Bangladesh. Since autumn 2022, I have been working as student assistant in the SCIP project at ISOE.
About me: I got my bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in Bangladesh. After my bachelor I had worked in the Institute of Water Modelling in Dhaka, before I received a DAAD scholarship for the Master program “Tropical Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering (TropHEE)” at the Technical University Darmstadt in 2021.
Prior to my involvement in the SCIP project, I had no clue about Bangladesh’s waste management systems, as my work experience focused on water issues. When I attended a course on the German Waste Management System, I had two “aha-moments”: First, I understood waste is no useless dirt, but a resource; second, I realized how rudimentary and lacking behind standards my home country’s waste management system is. This made me feel disheartened. However, working at SCIP gives me the opportunity to contribute to the solution of the critical issue of waste management in my home country.
From my work experience in the water sector, I know how difficult it is to coordinate between the relevant actors involved. Indeed, this has often hindered progress in problem solving. The common challenges in both the water and waste sectors are limited infrastructure, political instability, and most importantly, public awareness. Through extensive literature research, I have gained a comprehensive understanding of waste management in Khulna as well as other countries in the global south. I have studied issues related to waste collection, disposal, and recycling. It was particularly exciting for me to learn more about the role of the informal sector in waste management. In many places, the informal sector makes an important contribution to waste management. However, society and local authorities often ignore this contribution. Therefore, I appreciate that we, in SCIP, pay special attention to the informal sector. It is important to consider their key role in order to develop inclusive, socially and environmentally sustainable waste management solutions.
At ISOE, I have the privilege of meeting people from different disciplines, including sociology, human geography, biology, physics, and engineering, among others. They all bring their own unique perspectives and insights to the projects they are working on. In Bangladesh, it is a bitter truth that most people with academic backgrounds who are not engineers or medical doctors are not valued. The general assumption is that their work does not add value to society. However, while working at ISOE alongside these experts, I was amazed at their extensive knowledge and skills, as well as their ability to think creatively and lead projects to success.
Working at ISOE is a nice experience for me because the working environment is very welcoming. There is a lot of emphasis on work-life balance, which was previously neither imaginable nor feasible for me in Bangladesh. On my first day at work, I was fascinated and amazed when one of my colleagues gave me a detailed tour of the office and showed me everything, from the stationery to the kitchen. In Bangladesh, newcomers rarely receive such a detailed tour and not even shown the emergency exists.
But not only the ISOE team is great, but the whole SCIP team in Weimar, Khulna and Chattogram is very friendly, understanding and open-minded.
I am really looking forward to continue working with ISOE and within the SCIP project. Let us work together towards creating a better world not only for ourselves but also for future generations to come.
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein
About me: I got my bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in Bangladesh. After my bachelor I had worked in the Institute of Water Modelling in Dhaka, before I received a DAAD scholarship for the Master program “Tropical Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering (TropHEE)” at the Technical University Darmstadt in 2021.
