Mussoorie, The collective effort by Hilldaari in Mussoorie has led to the diversion of 10 tonnes of low value plastic from the landfill in the hill-station.
The town has made a major breakthrough in the disposal of ‘multi-layered plastic’ with the collective efforts of its residents, Municipal Co-operation, Nestlé India, Gati Foundation, Recity and KEEN- Keeping The Environment Ecologically Natural on the eve of the 73rd Independence Day.
Disposal and recycling of this type of plastic which is used to pack food items is difficult and expensive, but earlier this week, about 6 tonnes of dry waste was moved for disposal by Nepra Group of Companies to its Delhi based plant, where it will be put into use to generate energy.
Earlier in June, 4 tonnes of dry waste was carried to Delhi. For the last three months, Gati Foundation is collecting dry waste from 80 sites in the area. This effort, made under the Hilldaari movement to make Mussoorie one of the cleanest hill stations in the country, is a major step towards freedom from garbage.
According to Hilldaari’s project manager Arvind Shukla, ‘We were collecting MLP and low value plastic from the city for the last eight months at the Dry Waste Collection Center near IDH building on the by-pass road. Different methods of disposal, modes of transport and expenses, etc. were taken into consideration. Now that this process has been made with the help of Nestlé, the plan is to send a truck i.e. about 5 tonnes of garbage every week.”
Due to the unprecedented cooperation the movement is getting from the residents of the hill-station, 80 percent of people have started segregating waste i.e. wet and dry at home. Now, the waste generated is being directly linked to better disposal and recycling process so that the amount of trash that reaches landfills is curtailed.
Efforts are on to improve the standard of living of garbage pickers in this campaign, which intends to take everyone along in their larger scheme of things.
