Then a generator crate, now a classroom desk

High-end packing wood used by Vestas to transport generators, bearings, gear boxes and other heavy machinery is recycled to be made into desks, benches and other learning tools with the help of NGO Aid India. And giving artistic shape and touch to these wooden crates are 25-odd men and women working in a small fishing hamlet in Koovathur, near Kalpakkam.

Wealth of out waste

For the hundreds of children studying in the 25 different educational institutions spread over seven states, these benches and chairs are a luxury they will recollect and cherish later.

It is three years since Vestas India has been supplying the raw material for this initiative titled ‘Scrap yard to school room’. Wood that would have otherwise been sold on a kilo basis to the vendor comes to four-fold use.

“The wood is first de-nailed to recycle effectively; the end product (furniture) improves the learning conditions; it is a means of training-cum-livelihood for the fisher folk working; and the project prevents felling of trees,” says Madhu Kumar Boppana, manager – corporate communication, Vestas.

About 189 tonnes of wood has been sent so far from Vestas India in Chennai to Koovathur, located between Chennai and Puducherry.

Aid India trains and employs people who have “indirectly” lost their livelihood post-tsunami, assuring them a fixed income every month.

Tapping new markets

Taking credit for this task along with others is Peter Bakos, a volunteer with Aid-India. Bakos is an Australian who retired as Marine Engineer from the English Merchant Navy. He initiated the concept and oversees the day-to-day functions and trains people. In fact, he has made the campus in Koovathur his home.

“The idea was to build a community centre that would benefit tsunami-affected people. Today, we are happy that five to six boys have even left us to start their own enterprise in carpentry,” says Bakos. Around 40 sets of desks and benches are made at this training-cum-production unit every month.

For Aid India this project promises to pave way for many other initiatives. The NGO is looking at taking this project one step ahead as it is getting requests from other social organisations to supply them furniture. Akshara Foundation, for example, has already placed orders for its schools.

“We had made an investment of a few lakhs, but this has now grown to become a self-sustained unit,” says A. Ravishankar, joint secretary of Aid India who is also a visiting faculty at IIT-Madras.

“We are also looking at setting up a much larger unit in Vellore, where other industrial waste including rubber and scrap iron can be recycled as a livelihood enterprise.” It doesn’t end there.

The finished furniture is bought over by Vestas for its many schools it is supporting – 25 schools in seven states, that is.