CB BureauWith the intention of effectively managing the
waste of Pune, Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, has started a
public movement called Adar Poonawalla Clean City Movement (APCCM). It is a public”private
partnership towards scientific waste management in association with the Pune
Municipal Corporation and Noble Exchange Environment Solutions.
Of over 1,700 tonnes of waste generated in
Pune, 52″55 per cent is wet waste. When such wet food waste is segregated and
removed separately at source, the inorganic waste like plastic, metal, paper,
and rags can also be scientifically processed and effectively recycled. This
will gradually ensure minimisation of landfills and free urban land for more
productive purposes.
Moreover, unscientific disposal of organic
waste creates a series of social, environmental, and health hazards including
emission of poisonous greenhouse gases, release of odour, breeding ground for
flies, mosquitoes, bacteria, and viruses, and polluting of groundwater
reserves. On the other hand, if organic waste generated is processed
scientifically, it can be a great source of renewable energy and organic
manure.
Adar Poonawalla is making an investment of Rs
100 crore under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandate of Serum
Institute of India to fund a fleet of specially designed trucks and litter bins
to transport the wet waste to a processing plant. The plant is run by Noble
Exchange Environment Solutions, the technology and operations partners of this
programme.
‘Everyone feels sad when they see garbage and
waste lying on our streets and want to do something about it. However, the
solutions to this basic problem have been complex. Through this programme, we
have tried to develop a self-sustaining model and aim to cover cleaning of 300
kilometres of roads running across municipal limits of the city in a phased
manner. Our aim is to make Pune one of the cleanest cities in India,’ declared
Poonawalla in a media release shared with CauseBecause.
APCCM will focus on supporting Pune Municipal
Corporation with infrastructure and management of solid waste, especially
focusing on organic waste management. Initiatives undertaken in this direction
will include installation of litter bins at high traffic locations, vehicles
and manpower for clearance of garbage from these litter bins, advanced mobile
food-waste processing vans as well as outreach programmes to educate citizens
regarding importance of segregation of waste.