Plastic banks set up in Dehradun to tackle waste at a ground-level

Dehradun based environmental action and advocacy group Gati Foundation signed an MoU on Monday with the Indian Institute of Petroleum Dehradun to work on establishing 'plastic banks' to help deal with the plastic waste generated at a ground-level in the city. The aim is to work towards getting rid of single-use plastic in the city using scientific methods of treatment. Currently, there are two such plastic banks in the state of Uttarakhand. Earlier in September a similar initiative of setting up of 'plastic banks' was taken by the Hailakandi Municipal Board in Assam.  

Read- Assam's Barak Valley gets 'Plastic Bank' to dispose single-use plastic

Anoop Nautiyal, Founder and chairperson of the Gati Foundation addressed the launch of the second plastic bank. 

"Single-use plastics has become a big challenge for today's world. Not only is there a need for awareness on the issue but it also needs a scientific solution." 

Movement against single-use plastic by the Modi government

On the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, P.M Modi had urged the youth to take to Plogging (picking-up and cleaning) to help in clearing single-use Plastic. He even addressed the same at the UNGA in New York back in September where his initiative to ban single-use plastic in India was praised by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. Later that month he had also spoken to the 'Plogman of India' Ripu Daman Bevli who is known for his massive 'plogging drives.' 

Read- PM Modi's fascinating chat with 'plogger' on 'No Single Use Plastic' - Republic World

Read- PM Modi at UNGA: Working tirelessly to end use of single-use plastics

The science behind the movement

The organization is planning to set up at least 10 plastic banks by the end of this year in Uttarakhand, primarily in Dehradun. Nautiyal explained that the process works with the help of an innovative plant called 'Plastic to Fuel' which has the capacity to convert 1000kgs of plastic to 800 liters of diesel or 700 liters of petrol.  

"We have thus established two plastic banks in Uttarakhand using this technology. Plastic waste collected in these banks will be segregated, stored, transported and finally converted into diesel in the plant established at the Indian Institute of Petroleum, said Nautiyal." 

Plastic banks are places where citizens can go and deposit single-use plastic items. These mainly fall under the category of disposable plastics meant for use-and-throw like plastic bottle caps, food wrappers, plastic grocery bags, plastic sachets, plastic wrappers etc. 

Read- Goa government bans single-use plastic in all government offices

Read- PM Modi spells out India's '5-year-plan' at UNGA, emphasises the scale