Pune generates 1500 t per day of garbage. 6000 t of waste every day in Mumbai. 65% of it is from residences and hotels. Out of this 9% is plastic. The reason for the shift to plastic is the logistics challenge: Should a manufacturer use 2.5 gm of pouch or 450 gram glass bottle? About 70% is wet garbage. Plastic of any city waste constitutes 40% by volume and 10% by weight. 40% of plastic in India is recycled. In India, at some places bailing machines are used to compress the waste – and make it stackable. Some of the plastic collected is also used in cement factories inside kilns for burning. From Pune, the closest cement factories are in Karnataka. Plastic scrap is also used in road construction – it has potential to use about 1 ton per km.

56% of waste in Pune is segregated. Use paper at bottom of wet garbage instead of plastic. Katraj has one ward with zero waste. Segregation is best done at source. In the west, this is the color code used for waste –

Orange – Plastic

Pink – Paper

Black – Metal

Green – Wet

If segregation is not done in those places, then the bags are returned – and there is no collection for one week.

Japan kids clean their own toilets. In their metro, all phones are on silent, they only chat. If someone has a cold, she wears a mask. Singapore took 33 years to change. In Panaji, the mindset of kids has started changing. The best policy is to have an extended producer’s responsibility.

Reliance pays 35 per kg for scrap bottles. Here are some entrepreneurs who are doing interesting work in recycling. http://kuppathotti.com/

Here are Sameer’s contact details: Knoesis Enterprises, GAT 398, Urawade, Besides Rudra Dhaba, Opp Hotel Rupa, Mulshi – 9370146290