SUNIL NEGI
Dehradun based environmental action and advocacy group Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation launched its Plastic Bank Project in a city based hotel. Government officials, schools, university, restaurant operators, hostel functionaries, showroom, hospitals, RWA were present in large numbers.
SDC is executing this project with support from Airbus which is a global pioneer in the aerospace industry. Airbus is supporting this project under its Corporate Social Responsibility mandate.
Under the Plastic Bank Project, SDC Foundation is creating frameworks that facilitate segregation of plastic waste at the citizen and institution level by setting up a chain of Plastic Banks. It is ensuring timely collection, transportation and secondary level segregation of plastic waste that is being channelised for recycling into energy use (plastic waste to fuel) or for production of items made from plastic waste.
The plastic waste that is being collected from the various Plastic Banks is being brought to the Plastic Waste Segregation and Learning Center of SDC Foundation. Plastic waste is further segregated here and is being handed over for the plastic to fuel project of CSIR-IIP and to other authorized recyclers of plastic waste.
Plastic Banks are being set up at schools, colleges, hostels, showrooms, government offices, hospitals, religious places, hotels and apartment blocks. The target is to open a total of 300 Plastic Banks by March 2025. 89 Plastic Banks have been set up since the start of the collaboration.
As a part of this initiative, several on-premise capacity building and awareness workshops to boost the collective mindset of the participants towards reduction, reuse and recycling of plastic waste are being organized regularly.
Participating in the program, Dr. Harendra Bisht, Director, CSIR-IIP said that plastic has become a part of human daily life. He shared detailed scientific information about the benefits and side effects of plastic.
Dr. Bisht spoke at length about the waste to value possibilities with plastic waste and lauded the plastic bank initiative of SDC Foundation.
Gaurav Kumar, Commissioner Nagar Nigam Dehradun informed the audience that the Dehradun was generating close to 500 metric tonnes of waste on a daily basis. He urged citizens and all stakeholders to adopt practices of segregation while focussing on the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle. He also assured to provide all possible help to SDC Foundation for the operations of plastic banks in the city.
Chandan Singh Rawat, Chief Environment Officer of Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board said that efforts need to be made to operate the concept of plastic bank in other cities and towns in Uttarakhand.
Swami Rama Himalayan University Joli Grant, Ess Ell Honda, ICAR- Indian Institute of Water and Soil Conservation, Government Inter College Dobhalwala, Shri Guru Ram Rai Public School Patel Nagar and New MD Public School Panditwari were felicitated for the laudatory work done by them through their Plastic Banks in the program.
A panel discussion regarding the plastic bank initiative was conducted by Prerna Raturi of SDC Foundation. Anita Joshi, a teacher from Bhawani Balika Inter College, Sanskriti Singh, a student of class 11 from Shri Guru Ram Rai School, Girish Uniyal from Swami Rama Himalayan University, Praveen Gulati from Ess Ell Honda and Pooran Singh of Mountain Cafe Maggie Point shared their experiences and lauded the Plastic Bank project.
Anoop Nautiyal, Founder, SDC Foundation earlier spoke about the project and shed light on the methodology. He expressed his delight in partnering with Airbus and added that apart from inculcating the practice of segregation, the collected plastic waste will be recycled in a scientific manner. While on the one hand this will promote circularity; it will also reduce littering and waste burden on open spaces and waste collection centres in the city.
Dr. Sanat Kumar, Dr. Manoj Srivastava and Dr. Atul Ranjan from IIP, Dr. Avinash Khanna from Municipal Corporation Dehradun, Dr. Rajendra Kathait, Subhash Panwar and Rajkumar Chaturvedi from Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board, Rakesh Kumar, Amit and Narendra from Dehradun Cantonment Board, Maya Narula, Dr. LMS Upreti, Lieutenant Colonel Sunny Bakshi, Roshan Raturi, Ranbir Chaudhary, Manoj Barthwal, Pyare Lal, principals, teachers and students of various schools, Ganga Prahari and a large number of people participated in the launch program. The program was conducted by Dinesh Chandra of SDC Foundation, while Praveen Upreti proposed the vote of thanks.
