World Environment Day: A new India wakes up to the benefits of aluminium recycling

Aluminium recycling is still a fledgling industry in India. The lack of a proper ecosystem and a weak legal structure has stopped the hitherto ‘unorganized sectoral practice’ from growing into a full-fledged industry. However, considering the fact that India’s per capita consumption of aluminium is still one of the lowest at around 2.5 kg against a world average of ~8kg, with 22-25 kg in developed nations, it will be too early to call it a day. In fact, the new India is waking up to the endless benefits of aluminium recycling, thanks to the Start Up boom and missions like “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” (Clean India Movement).

The city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu is going to make solid waste management mandatory in the city from June 5 onward. On the occasion of World Environment Day, the municipal corporation intends to implement the plan whereby the waste generated would have to be segregated at source. All commercial establishments, small roadside stalls, and houses would have to comply and segregate their waste and hand it over to the garbage collectors.

Under the scheme, while biodegradable wastes would have to be deposited in the green bin, non-biodegradable or recyclable wastes like aluminium foil, trays, aluminium beverage cans, aluminium aerosol cans, cartons, paper and plastic bottles would have to be put in the blue bin. The aluminium cans, foils and containers and other recyclables will then be sent to the recycling units for secondary metal (or material) extraction.

Uttarakhand is also mulling to draft a comprehensive solid waste management policy in the same line as Madurai’s waste management system in order to improve garbage disposal in villages.

{googleAdsense}

In Kolkata, a startup named Vital Waste has started helping locals with recycling solutions and pays customers for their wastes as well. Tushar Himatsinghka and Prashanth Bothra- the two masterminds behind the venture, decided to set up the platform in order to link housing societies, corporate offices and schools with various recycling enterprises.

Vital Waste team collects biodegradable waste as well as non-biodegradable, recyclable wastes like aluminium cans and foils from several commercial and housing complexes on a monthly basis and carry them in their trash trucks to the recycling dealers. These recycling dealers then send the segregated waste to the recycling units where further processing is done and the secondary metal is generated.

“People are actually aware about the process of recycling. But the part involving segregation and reaching out to different recycling agents, that is something very time consuming for people living in cities, who’d rather dump away everything together” Tushar commented.

Such “clean” initiatives are expected to spread more awareness among people living in the cities and add steam to the overall aluminium recycling practice in the long run.