Social responsibility : Sidcon sponsors ISWA scholarship programme in India

Since 2016, with the support of Timothy Bouldry, the ISWA Scholarship Programme has been supporting children who are living on or near dumpsites. This initiative engages with people informally working at dumpsites in order to provide children with the education, materials and conditions they need to become successful, as well as to follow them until they become self-sustainable and no longer have to rely on the dumpsites.

Now, Dutch waste company Sidcon has signed an agreement with ISWA to sponsor the Scholarship Programme initiative in India. Sidcon will be supporting the programme for at least five years, enabling ISWA to support underprivileged children in Bengaluru, India who have been negatively impacted by the open dumping of waste.

In cooperation with two local foundations, One Billion Literates and Samridhdhi Trust, the sponsorship will be used to provide quality education to children from socio-economically weaker sections of society in rural Bengaluru – especially those impacted by poor waste management. By working with these two organisations, we can ensure that we have a solid understanding of the local situation, and that the programme provides measurable, sustainable and significant positive change in the lives of local children and, indirectly, their parents.

Furthermore, a number of community outreach initiatives and a focussed curriculum will be developed to foster a generation of awareness on some of the fundamental issues of our time, from waste management and sustainable development to climate change.

is a market leader in the field of underground compactors for plastic, residual and industrial waste. The goal is to collect waste efficiently in order to be able to recycle it after collection. In this way, Sidcon aims to contribute to a sustainable and circular economy and tries to help municipalities to achieve their waste targets. Sidcon very much shares ISWA’s mission to promote and develop sustainable waste and resource management worldwide.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Sidcon director Reinier Siderius said: “As a former player in the Netherlands hockey team, I visited India in the late 1980s. I've always wanted to return to this fascinating country. Last year the time had come. A wonderful journey, but I could also see with my own eyes what enormous waste problems there are. With Sidcon, we would like to make a contribution to get children off the dumpsites and to be able to follow a scholarship.”