Fuel from polythene waste in Chitalmari

Several families from the Rishi (Dalit) community live next to the helipad at Chitalmari Upazila. One of them is Sujan Biswas, 35. He works as a cobbler on the pavement of Upazila Sadar Bazar to earn a living. He earns 200 to 300 taka a day, and his family somehow survives on this, often going without enough food.

But in these conditions of poverty, the huge garbage dump in front of his house has constantly troubled him. Tons of garbage from the market are dumped there every day, which is extremely harmful to the environment and to unborn children.

To protect the environment, he with his children, Sujan decided to produce fuel oil by burning polythene. With the little money he earned from mending shoes and sandals, he built a small plant to produce fuel oil from polythene, alongside supporting his family. The fuel he produces runs his shallow engine and motorcycle.

Sujan Biswas said, “They dump the garbage of the entire market in the upazila in front of our house. They set fire to the polythene in the open air. The smoke suffocates children and the elderly. That is why I started thinking about how to protect the environment.

I built this ‘polythene burning unit’ after watching YouTube videos. On one hand, the environment is being protected, and on the other hand, fuel oil is being produced.”