Pilot Project .Waste to Wealth. Programme in Ward No. 82, KMC, Kolkata

Shri Subroto Mukherjee, Mayor, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) inaugurated ‘Waste to Wealth’ pilot project in ward No. 82 in Chetla area of KMC. This project is implemented by IPF jointly with Kolkata Municipal Corporation, West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment and others. In the first phase, 6 roads of Ward No. 82 have been identified for the project. To generate awareness in people, messages regarding the project have been beamed on local TV channels and public announcements were made. Every household was given an eco-friendly and recyclable bag to store the plastic wastes, making the collection easier. Employing the jobless youths for collection of plastic wastes is the other positive fallout of the scheme. They will purchase the plastic waste @ Rs. 4/- per kg and sell them to recyclers at a profit of at least Rs. 2/- or more. The recycled by-product will be manufactured by adopting an ecofriendly process. The recycled products include household items like buckets, doors and even shoes – all of which will be available to the consumers at half the price of similar products. A cycle van has been provided to facilitate easy collection. The programme will continue for three months. On the success of this pilot project, the same would be replicated in other areas of KMC and other municipalities of West Bengal. This launch programme has been well reported both in the print and electronic media. Reproduced from ENVIS, ICPE, Vol. 2, Issue 4.