Venezuelan students help turn plastic waste into school desks

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MARACAIBO (Reuters) -Piles of discarded plastic and broken school furniture are being given a second life in northwestern Venezuela, where a local foundation is turning waste into desks for students.

El Zulia Recicla, based in Zulia state’s capital, Maracaibo, has refurbished 160 desks so far using plastic waste collected by students.

Instead of building new furniture, the foundation repairs damaged metal frames and replaces missing parts with molded plastic panels made in its workshop.

“We show people that the desks they use today – with damaged wood, falling apart – can be restored,” said Nicolino Bracho, the foundation’s research director.

At Ramon Reinoso Nunez School, where students had been sitting on the floor or using backpacks as chairs, 20 desks have already been delivered.

“We have many issues with desks, because of course theft and wear over time take their toll,” said school director Maritza Jaimes.

“We hoped they could take more, but we’re grateful to have 20 restored ones,” she said.

The initiative, partly funded by the French embassy, aims to deliver 200 desks to 10 schools in vulnerable areas and is part of the foundation’s broader effort to reduce plastic pollution and raise environmental awareness in the region.

(Reporting by Mariela Nava and Efrain Otero)