Singapore-based the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), which is working across the globe, has said that India is a priority country for them and the AEPW is implementing 11 projects in the country, which are in various stages of implementation.
“Twenty percent of our projects are in India, which are being implemented in partnership with various urban local bodies in public private partnership mode,” AEPW President and CEO Jacob Duer, who was in India to visit and meet its allies and partners, said, adding that this includes projects in iconic cities like Agra and Haridwar which are being implemented together with local municipal corporations.
The aim of these projects is to divert more than 25,000 tonnes per year of plastic waste from the environment and recycle up to 25,000 tonnes per year, said Duer, adding that plastic waste management is a critical issue for a country like India which is estimating to be generating 9.4 million tonnes of plastic waste annually.
“40 percent that plastic waste (generated by India annually) is currently estimated as being
unmanaged.
And by unmanaged, that means that it ends up in the environment, can end up in rivers and oceans, ends up in open dump sites or it can even be burned. All that plastic has a significant value.
Through the AEPW, we are working to support efforts at the community level, at the municipality level to put in place infrastructure solutions for plastic waste,” he
said.
The projects of AEPW are located in several Indian cities including Agra, Kolkata, Sundarbans Haridwar, Rishikesh, Puducherry etc. and are focusing on enhancing plastic waste management capabilities, including setting up of material recovery centres, waste collection and sorting, enhance opportunities for recycling and behavioural change programmes.