Green AUCA: Photo report from events on March 28 and 30

April 8, 2022

On March 28 and 30, discussion events were held at AUCA following the results of the 1st stage of the “Green AUCA” project: on March 28 - with the active participation of the AUCA community (faculty, staff, students), on March 30 – with representatives of other universities of the Kyrgyz Republic and international organizations, waste recycling companies in the Kyrgyz Republic and the media.

We remind you that in February, the "Green AUCA" project was launched and began to develop at the American University in Central Asia. This is a project for the separate collection and recycling/disposal of 4 types of waste (paper, plastic, electronic waste, batteries). The first stage of the project took two months – February-March.

At the end of March, the initiators of the project – The Center for Environment and Development (CED) and The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) of AUCA – shared the results of their work for two months and told about their plans for the near future.

The event on March 28 was attended by Acting AUCA President Jonathan Becker, who also supported the project. It was held in a solemn atmosphere.

Awarded with prizes:

• The 3 greenest departments
• the winner of the competition among students for the best logo for the project (now this logo will decorate all events and mailings of the Green AUCA)and
• 6 project volunteers, without whom the project would not have been implemented so successfully - Meerim Kanybekova, Ramina Ergeshova, Shabdan Kadyrbekov, Mariya Pankova, Zhypara Kadyrakunova and Muminakhon Abdulvohidzoda.

Prizes for the winners and memorable gifts for volunteers were presented by Jonathan Becker. We tried to make gifts more eco-friendly. The greenest department of AUCA, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, received an air humidifier for its office as a prize. The departments that took 2nd and 3rd places are sets with local delicious eco-products from EcoFerma Market. Aliya Akayeva, the winner of the competition among students, was presented with an external hard drive with a capacity of 1 TB (in order to save as much information as possible in electronic form and not print out too much!), Aliya and Vasal, who took 2nd and 3rd places, received a monetary reward. Our hard-working volunteers were given thermoses (a more eco-friendly alternative to plastic bottles!), and especially distinguished Shabdan and Meerim were also presented with sweet eco-presents.

The event on March 30 was attended by a representative of the processing sector of Kyrgyzstan - Director of “Eco Complex” LLC Nurlan Dzhumaliyev. AUCA disposes of electronic waste and batteries to this organization as part of a “green” project. It is worth noting that this is the only organization in Kyrgyzstan that has a license to collect and dispose of more than 600 types of waste (medical, electronic, coffee cups, mercury lamps, etc. non-recyclable waste). Moreover, the destruction is carried out with the help of smokeless pyrolysis technologies – one of the environmentally safe methods at the moment.

Nurlan Dzhumaliyev told us exactly what they do with these types of waste (this is one of the most popular questions for us within the framework of the Green AUCA project!).

The main activity of our company is the destruction of hazardous waste. The fact that we accept batteries is our social project. We accept them for free from all over Kyrgyzstan, they are brought to us from Osh, Jalal-Abad, Karakol, Bishkek, etc. Batteries belong to the 2nd hazard class. Neither Kyrgyzstan nor neighboring Kazakhstan has a processing plant for them. We are only collecting them at the moment. When we collect 10 tons, we will take them to a processing plant in the Chelyabinsk region, Russia, where heavy metals will be isolated from them, which will later be used in the production of new products. In addition, we will pay for their processing. We consider this work our social responsibility. At the moment, we have collected only 1 ton of batteries so far, so we appeal to all Kyrgyzstan: hand over used batteries to us, - said Nurlan Dzhumaliyev.

 

The events on March 28 and 30 ended with "green" discussions, in which all those present took an active part: students and faculty from AUCA and other metropolitan universities, processors, representatives of the WasteNet.Kg project, and the media. There were no indifferent people, and the discussions turned out to be really interesting and lively.

The first steps have already been taken at our university - the boxes are standing. But we faced the same question as you - what to do next with this waste, where and how to hand it over? We don't know. I am very glad that I took part in this event. We are very interested in this topic - both professors and youth. We will be glad to cooperate with the network WasteNet.Kg, AUCA and other universities, - Turdukan Bekimbetova, a professor from the International University “Ala Too”, shared her impressions.

This project is being implemented as part of the Pilot program "Improving the efficiency of the waste collection and processing system in the Kyrgyz Republic - WasteNet.Kg implemented by the Agency "CSR Central Asia" with the support of the International Fund "The Coca-Cola Foundation" This publication does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the pilot project WasteNet.Kg

 

 

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