Mulling upon the ways of disposing of the mammoth quantities of seized plastic, the BMC has planned to recycle the banned item. Since July 1, the civic body has impounded 1,650 kg of plastic which is lying in the BMC warehouses. With the help of an NGO, the civic body has planned to recycle the seized plastic into benches, tables, pencil boxes and garbage bins, said a senior civic official.
Worried over the piling mountains of plastic at the warehouses, the BMC's solid waste management department is exploring ways to dispose of the refuse. “We recently had a discussion with an NGO. It has agreed to recycle the plastic into benches and tables. We will assess the plastic that we have in our warehouse. The selected items will be handed over to the NGO,” said the senior civic official.
Three years back Project Mumbai, a non-profit organisation started collecting plastic from the housing societies and recycling it into benches, pencil boxes and even garbage bins. Some plastic benches are now kept in around 50 civic gardens and even in civic-run 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's converted into benches and tables. The fund for the expenses is raised through corporate social responsibility.”
Since July 1, the BMC officials have inspected 24,404 places such as malls, supermarkets and shops. Around Rs 11.65 lakh have been collected in fines till August 16, while 233 violators have faced the music, so far.
Civic body will assess impounded items, and accordingly send it to NGO for recycling
1,650 kg plastic lying at BMC warehouses
100 kg goes into making one bench
Cost for each bench is around Rs 8,000
“We recently had a discussion with an NGO. It has agreed to recycle the plastic into benches and tables. We will assess the plastic that we have in our warehouse. The selected items will be handed over to the NGO," said a senior BMC official
