Imagine the steep hillsides of the Rohingya camps, where life can be tough and solutions can’t wait. Here, PLEASE Project is using fresh ideas and local know-how to tackle urgent challenges. One of the biggest problem is plastic packaging waste, it piles up everywhere, choking open spaces and harming the fragile environment. To tackle this, BRAC has introduced upcycling. Transforming discarded plastics into something new and useful, while inviting young people to roll up their sleeves and be part of the solution.
So, what is upcycling? It’s a creative makeover that turns ‘waste’, like empty coffee sachets or sturdy packaging plastics into beautiful, functional items like a clever flower vase, hand-woven placemats, or even a stylish tablecloth. By teaching these skills to youth, especially young women, BRAC not only helps clear the camps of plastic litter but also gives them a chance to earn by selling their handcrafted creations. A group of 45 youths mostly young women, gathered for an intensive upcycling training organised by BRAC under its waste innovation initiatives. Their mission was simple: to learn how creativity, skill, and purpose can turn discarded plastic into something beautiful and useful. But what they left with was far more powerful a sense of agency, confidence, and possibility.
What followed was more than just a series of training days. It became a space where youth could ask questions, make mistakes, support each other, and innovate. The items needed to make upcycled products are very simple and easily accessible. They include scissors, stitches for sewing, a glue gun, a measuring tape.
Remarkably, the initiative exceeded its gender inclusion targets, with female participation leading the charge. It was a cultural shift witnessed in real time.
“Girls in the camp are often left out of skills training. But this time, we were the first to be invited,”
The most powerful part of the story lies not in what was taught, but in what grew from it. Youth participants have begun sharing their skills with siblings and neighbours. Some are designing new products beyond the training syllabus. Others are planning to sell their creations at local camp markets. This initiative is not a standalone activity, it is part of a wider movement by the project to embed circular economy thinking and behavioural change in Cox’s Bazar and the camps. These young learners are now ambassadors of that change, standing at the intersection of environmental recovery and social renewal.
The story of the Youth Upcycling Camp is more than a project milestone. It is a reminder that even in the most fragile places, learning can light a path forward, especially when youth are trusted to lead the way. As BRAC continues to scale these efforts, the journey of these 45 young people will remain a testament to what is possible when institutions invest not just in solutions, but in the potential of people.
Story Captured and Documented By Environmental Engineers Limited (EEL)
Designed By Uday Shikder, BRAC
Edited by Rukhsar Sultana, BRAC
Photos By Environmental Engineers Limited (EEL) & Rukhsar Sultana, BRAC