“Kaagaz” focuses on impacting the environment by reducing paper wastage and simultaneously creating jobs to empower the local community. The core principle behind Kaagaz is the application of the 3Rs i.e. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
The aim of Kaagaz is to reduce paper wastage by introducing products which can be manufactured from waste and used paper.Our functioning is inspired by the visionary ideology which envisions a world where “any kind of paper material would no longer be considered as a waste”. As a complementary effect of the initiative, creation of jobs through upcycling paper primarily with production of paper mache products in a sustainable manner would also be achieved.
As a part of its functioning of our functioning, 2 people were taught basic carpentry to help them earn a livelihood. By providing the material requirements, they made 400 whiteboards, to be sold in the market. A paper collection drive was carried out to reuse the one sided used paper to make usable notepads. The notepads will be distributed amongst the needy students at free of cost. This also bore fruits in the form of partial employment for the person who was involved in paper collection, segregation, and notepad binding activities.
A waste management competition was conducted for middle school students in the ABN school, in which the students used waste paper to create home decor items and showcase models. Cash prizes were awarded to the best products. Moreover, “Kaagaz” proved its significance in the form of a remarkable milestone when it secured the victorious position at the building green challenge at Cognizance ‘18, where it presented its headline product fibrete, a material processed from waste paper, as a feasible alternative to the traditional concrete. Kaagaz has been meticulously researching to find ways to improvise the properties and characteristics of “fibrete”, thereby formulating its complete R&D.
The plan for whiteboards will be expanded to different cities by the end of summers of 2018. The target is also to create substantive employment opportunities as supplementary or full-time for the youths in the region around through paper mache products. Kaagaz is going to collaborate with schools, colleges and offices and help them to efficiently reduce as well as manage their paper wastes. Campaigns for awareness and drives for collection of paper waste will be organised in the IIT Roorkee campus and various schools around.
