Navi Mumbai, June 29: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has recycled Plaster of Paris (PoP) from 700 immersed Ganesh idols to manufacture 760 study tables, marking a significant step in the civic body's efforts to promote sustainable waste management and reduce festival-related environmental pollution.
The study tables have been distributed to students of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Municipal Secondary School No. 104 in Ambedkar Nagar, Rabale.
PoP Recycled Into Study Tables
According to the civic body, around 8,000 PoP idols were collected after the Ganesh festival immersion last year from 146 artificial immersion ponds set up across the city in compliance with the Bombay High Court's directions and guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government's Environment and Climate Change Department. The idols were preserved under supervision while the corporation explored scientific methods for recycling the material.
The NMMC consulted experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, and environmental organisations to develop a scientific recycling process.
Under the guidance of Municipal Commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde and Deputy Commissioner Somnath Potre, the project was implemented with CSR support from Henkel India Private Limited and Beach Please India Limited in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Navi Mumbai.
About 1,500 kg of PoP recovered from 700 idols was processed into 760 study tables, which have now been distributed to municipal school students.
Circular Economy Initiative
The civic body is also planning the next phase of the initiative, under which recovered PoP will be scientifically processed into reusable raw material for manufacturing new idols.
Discussions are underway with the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, and consultations have already been held with scientists and representatives of idol-makers' associations. The project will be taken forward after receiving the required technical approvals.
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The NMMC said the initiative is part of its broader environmental conservation efforts. Navi Mumbai, which was ranked the second most environmentally sustainable city in Maharashtra under the state's Majhi Vasundhara campaign, aims to further promote the scientific recycling and reuse of PoP idols as part of a circular economy model.
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