Mumbai: Nearly one and a half tonnes of plastic waste collected from Mumbai households and offices will soon be recycled for the production of public amenities.
As part of the 'Mumbai Plastic Recyclothon Project' launched by city-based non-profit body - Project Mumbai, plastic wastes were collected from 100 residential buildings and housing societies and 30 corporate firms on October 2 and 7.
The drive was aimed to collect wastes accumulated at households during the lockdown period. The recycled plastic would be used for the production of benches, garbage bins, and pencil boxes. The benches will be installed at municipal gardens and sea coasts, the garbage bins will be given to housing societies and the pencil boxes would be donated to students.
"In the past six months of lockdown, many people had ordered food and procured other commodities online for which, a huge amount of plastic was accumulated in each household, our aim is to collect them and recycle them for a better usage" Shishir Joshi, CEO Project Mumbai, told FPJ.
The project was launched in 2018, which saw 85,000 Mumbaikars joining the cause. In 2019 the number went up to 1,50,000 and the drive made its mark in the Limca Book of Records.
This time, despite lockdown restrictions, one lakh Mumbaikars came forward to support the cause. The donors pre-registered themselves, following which volunteers would go door to door, collecting the waste. As a precautionary measure against the pandemic, the volunteers were given PPE kits.
"Alongside housing societies, corporate firms and schools also join the drive. Amid the pandemic outbreak, schools and most of the corporate firms are closed yet we managed to get more than one lakh donors, which is a sign that there is a rise in awareness among people regarding plastic waste" Joshi added.
The donors stated, problems regarding plastic pollution have been rising with time for which they were enthused to participate. Members of the Cuffe Parade Resident Association (CPRA) collected plastic waste for one week from each household which was later donated to the volunteers.
"We live near the seaside and we can see how hazardous plastic pollution can be. There were eight buildings which participated in the drive and the number of donors would be higher had the pandemic been not there," stated Saba Peerbhoy, member of CPRA.
"I don't throw away plastics and keep them for recycling. For this, cause I had volunteered and collected waste from households of the society and later donated to the NGO" said Juhu-based resident and entrepreneur, Vikas Gupta.
