Considering ways to dispose of the gigantic amounts of seized plastic, the BMC planned to recycle the banned item. Since July 1, the civic body has seized 1,650 kg of plastic lying in BMC warehouses. With the help of an NGO, the civic body planned to recycle seized plastic into benches, tables, pencil boxes and trash cans, a senior civic official said.
Worried about mountains of plastic piling up in warehouses, BMC’s solid waste management department is exploring ways to dispose of the waste. “We recently had a discussion with an NGO. He agreed to recycle the plastic into benches and tables. We will assess the plastic we have in our warehouse. Selected items will be donated to the NGO,” the senior civic official said.
Three years ago, Project Mumbai, a non-profit organization, began collecting plastic from housing corporations and recycling it into benches, pencil boxes and even trash cans. Some plastic benches are now kept in about 50 civic gardens and even in public schools, while pencil boxes are distributed to students studying in BMC schools.
Project Mumbai Founder and CEO Shishir Joshi said, “We sent the collected plastic to private recyclers; the plastic is crushed, cleaned and after making pallets, it is transformed into benches and tables. The fund for expenses is raised through corporate social responsibility.
Since July 1, BMC officials have inspected 24,404 places such as malls, supermarkets and stores. Around Rs 11.65 lakh has been levied in fines till August 16, while 233 offenders have faced the music so far.
The civic body will assess the confiscated items and send them accordingly to the NGO for recycling
1,650 kg of plastic in BMC warehouses
100 kg go into making a bench
The cost for each bench is around Rs 8,000
“We recently had a discussion with an NGO. He agreed to recycle the plastic into benches and tables. We will assess the plastic we have in our warehouse. Selected items will be donated to the NGO,” a senior BMC official said.
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