Dance competition alongside generating electricity from plastic

KATHMANDU, Nov 24: Eco Party, a Japan-based organization, is organizing a nation wide dance competition titled ‘School Oil Field Caravan Dance Competition’ for students and children up to the age of 16. The audition for the competition will be held in Pokhara, Lumbini, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu and the winner will be awarded with a scholarship of 100,000 and a runner up will be awarded with a scholarship of Rs 50,000. [break]Complementary scholarship worth Rs 10, 000 will also be given to six teams after the qualification round.



Eco Party, back in Japan, has conducted various interactive sessions during firefly season since 2003. They promote environmental learning projects with kindergarten facilities where plastics are collected from students and it is converted into fuel energy with live demonstration.



To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Nepal-Japan diplomatic relations in 2006, the project was launched in Nepal. The caravan with the oil production machine and generator was brought in from Japan to Kolkata and then Pokhara where the team demonstrated the recycling process by heating the plastics to 450 degrees and fractional distillation process. They distributed popcorns prepared by the generated energy to the children of the area.



“We will be collecting plastics at the audition venues in four different cities and the fuel generated from the amount of collected plastics will be used in the Earth Vision Light Up Festival at Boudhanath,” informed Masanori Uwai, Director of the executive committee of Eco Party during the project launch program at Pashupati Area Development Trust on Saturday.



The Festival will be a three day event starting on January 3 with opening performances by special guest artist from Japan, Okano Hiroki, along with traditional Buddhist instruments. Rajni Kayastha along with Rudra Band will be performing on the second day followed by Kutumba on the final day. The third day of the Festival will also be the grand finale of the dance competition.



The generated energy will be used in 3D mapping projection, liquid lighting show, search lighting show and laser shows with VJ Shinya Takaoka from Japan. “The mission of these corresponding projects is to generate electricity from plastic oil and inform locals that plastic is waste only when it is littered, it has great potential if recycling can be made possible,” Uwai added.







Treasurer of Pashupati Area Development Trust, Narottam Vaidya, said, “We are glad that Eco Party has made Pashupati the base camp of the oil generation project, with this effort we can reduce the amount of plastics in the temple premises and surrounding areas.”



Another mission of the project also urges the government to instill refining machines used in the production of plastic hydrogen oil in public places, hospitals and colleges where plastics are used excessively. Prakash Rasaily, operator of the machineries said, “These equipments are too expensive for each and every house, so we are in talks with the government to establish one in a public place. The amount of garbage would considerably go down.” Eco Party had met with then Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal at his residence around 18 months ago and demonstrated the energy conversion process. Khanal had positively said that this method would be a boon for Nepal and the government will work out a way to adopt this process.



According to the data provided by Eco Party, the process could generate as much energy as Nepal would need for 800 years and Japan for 2 years if plastics could be collected and converted into fuel energy.



The project which initially focused on cultural exchange between two countries has taken a larger course in six years, with addressing environmental issues prevalent in both Nepal and Japan.



For participation criteria and further details about the dance competition and plastic hydrogen oil project, go to www.ecoparty.tv.

Related story

Junior and Senior dance competition