A bank for plastic waste

Rakesh Agrawal, Dehradun

Ever heard of a plastic bank? Dehradun has not one or two but 300 plastic banks spread across the city. Their proliferation is impressive. You can find plastic banks in 92 schools, 40 hostels,10 universities and colleges, 132 Maggi Points, eight malls, the Head Post Office and many government offices.    

The plastic banks have been set up by SDC Foundation, a social organization in Dehradun which tackles the menace of plastic waste through its campaign, “Our Mission: A Cleaner Planet.”

“People expressed concern over the growing mounds of plastic waste, highlighting the serious implications for the future. They stressed that without efforts to reduce plastic waste and dispose of it responsibly, the planet will suffer,” says Anoop Nautiyal, who is the founder of SDC.

“We began our campaign in 2019 with one school and 55 girl students. We now reach out to about 100,000 people including 40,000 school students. We have segregated and recycled over 40,000 kg of plastic waste through these banks,” he says.

Ordinary citizens, scientists, professors, teachers, social activists, government employees and those involved in cultural activities are participating in this effort thanks to SDC reaching out to them.

Children have helped with the collection of plastics. Arnav Ridh, a Class 11 student of Sri Guru Ram Rai Public School, a senior secondary school, collects plastic waste from his colony along with three friends. In an hour, he says, they collect around six bags of plastic waste, consisting of wrappers, boxes, carry bags, broken toys and oil sachets. “Plastic is a real curse,” he says. “We deposit it all in our school’s plastic bank. It’ll be born again as utensils, buckets and toys.”

SDC celebrated its milestone of having set up 300 banks by organizing a programme. A panel discussion on plastic waste took place along with plays by school students, a video competition, and more.

“Dehradun was generating close to 500 metric tonnes of waste on a daily basis,” said Gaurav Kumar, commissioner of the city’s Nagar Nigam. Recycling plastic would reduce the overall waste. He urged citizens and all stakeholders to segregate their waste and adopt the 3Rs — reduce, reuse and recycle. He also assured SDC Foundation that the municipality would extend all help to ensure the plastic banks remained operative.

“Efforts need to be made to extend the concept of plastic banks to other hill towns and cities in Uttarakhand,” said Chandan Singh Rawat, chief environment officer of the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board who lauded the initiative.

This project has been executed with support from Airbus, a global pioneer in the aerospace industry, under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandate.

How is the project implemented? The SDC Foundation enables segregation of plastic waste at the citizen and institution level through its chain of plastic banks. “We ensure timely collection, transportation and secondary level segregation of plastic waste. It is then sent to be converted  into fuel for energy use or for production of items made from plastic waste,” explains Dinesh Semwal of SDC.

“The plastic waste from plastic banks is being brought to our Plastic Waste Segregation and Learning Centre at Mehuwala, a locality in Dehradun. Low intensity plastic waste is handed over to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's (CSIR) Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) for their plastic-to-fuel programme. It is converted into diesel  through a process called pyrolysis,” explained Semwal.

Multi-layered plastic, generally used to package food items, is resistant to moisture, light, and air. It is sent to the Cantt Board and Swayambhu, a recycling unit in Haridwar, where it is  made into other plastic items like bottles, stationery and toys.

“Plastic has become a part of our daily lives but it has deleterious side effects. This is a welcome initiative to minimize it,” said Dr Harendra Bisht, director, CSIR-IIP.

A number of institutions, schools and small businesses were felicitated for the work they had done in ensuring the plastic banks functioned.

Mountain Cafe Maggie Point, a café en route to Mussoorie, is one of 186 such points along this popular hill station’s roads that have a plastic bank.

“We have a small shop on our  land. We have our home and a cow shed there too. We sell  bun-omelette, bun-maska, homemade momos, Maggi, and tea and coffee. We place all our plastic trash in the bank for recycling. We don’t any more burn our garbage or  throw it down the hill. We send it for recycling,” says Pooran Singh, 59, proprietor of Mountain Cafe.

The Head Post Office (HPO) in the city centre next to the iconic Ghantaghar also has a plastic bank which was inaugurated in June 2024. Plastic waste generated by the post office and the homes of officers and employees of the postal department is deposited in the bank.

The HPO’s employees are thrilled at the initiative. “It’s a welcome step and we hope it sets an example for other government departments,” said Tikambar Singh Gusain, senior postmaster. Other government institutions like the Soil and Water Institute, Khadi Gramodyog and Officers’ Hostel also have plastic banks.

Eight showrooms and malls have such banks. These include The Mall of Dehradun, which boasts a LEED-certified design, the expansive Centrio Mall and the PVR Mall which has shops, eating joints and a cinema hall.

“Almost every shop owner and customer deposits a huge amount of plastic waste here,” says Rajiv Chourasia, operations head of Centrio Mall.

“These days, almost every item is packed in two or three layers of plastic and then put inside another plastic  bag. I unwrap the clothes I buy, and put the plastic in the plastic bank,” says  Richa Juyal, a teacher trainer and regular customer. ν