Tetra Pak, a popular global processing and packaging solutions provider for the food industry has partnered with a well-known local waste management venture, The Kabadiwala, for the purpose of increasing the collection of used beverage cartons in Bhopal. Consumers who are interested to dispose off their used cartons can go ahead by booking a pick-up using The Kabadiwala app or through www.thekabadiwala.com for which they would receive their payments in return for delivering their waste.
The team would be setting up 70 deposit points at several public places spread throughout the city, wherein, the used cartons can be dropped off by consumers for the purpose of recycling. Additionally, The Kabadiwala is expected to work closely with the Municipal Corporation of Bhopal to recover used packs of juice/milk and so on from the sorting centers of the corporation too. The entire set of cartons that have been collected would be delivered for recycling to Khatema Fibres, the nearest recycler in the state of Uttarakhand.
With this new association, Madhya Pradesh has become the 23rd State / Union Territory to be included under the ambit of Tetra Pak’s vast collection network. This network has covered 39 cities and 14 Indian Army contingents, having the support of more than 27 collection and awareness partners, across 23 States and Union Territories.
Shri. K.V.S Choudhary- Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Bhopal had come up with such an initiative by inaugurating the first drop-off box. Shri. Choudhary stated as follows – “This initiative to promote recycling of used carton packages is very unique. With the help of 70 drop-off points that are being set up across the city, citizens can now easily deposit their used packs for recycling. This will help reduce the waste pool that would otherwise be created and will go a long way in supporting the Swachh Bharat mission. I applaud this initiative and urge the citizens across Bhopal to extend their support to help recycle as many cartons as possible.”
While making his announcement about the partnership, Jaideep Gokhale, Sustainability Director, Tetra Pak South Asia stated- “This partnership is an important milestone in our journey of 17 years, over which we have established a collection ecosystem across the country. Madhya Pradesh is a very progressive state when it comes to waste management and we had been looking for a strong partner to help us recover used carton packs efficiently for recycling. The Kabadiwala team is just the right partner for us with their extensive network and unique model that makes it convenient for consumers to actively participate in recycling, while also working closely with waste-workers to recover cartons from other sources.”
Tetra Pak cartons are paper-based and can be recycled as well. Upon collection, these cartons can be recycled into several materials, including paper, waterproof poly-aluminium or panel boards that can subsequently be turned into items that are useful like roofing sheets, notebooks, classroom furniture for disadvantaged schools, including for use in commercial vehicles as seats and backrests, etc.
Mr. Anurag Asati, Co-Founder of The Kabadiwala stated- “We pride ourselves on being a technology-driven company committed to creating a Smart Waste Management System. Our strategy to make this initiative a success is two-fold – to raise awareness among waste-workers to recover more and more carton packs which will help them generate additional income; and to increase citizen awareness about recyclability of cartons, while also making it easy for them to recycle the cartons by simply downloading The Kabadiwala app, booking a pick-up on www.thekabadiwala.com, or walking up to any of the 70 drop-off points across the city. We are grateful to the Municipal Corporation of Bhopal for their unending support and to Tetra Pak for choosing us as the partner on this mission.”
The Kabadiwala platform renders assistance to find as well as map assets that can smoothen the process of collection of post-consumer waste, in addition to scheduling efficient as well as cost-effective pickups and connecting them with the right recyclers network. Recognizing the necessity for a way to track household waste materials as well as its productive use in a city, this platform also allows citizens to track their waste upon handing it over to The Kabadiwala.
