A Thane-based NGO is employing women rag pickers and using everyday waste to generate useful materials to reduce carbon footprint
A garden created by recycled waste at their centre in Kopri
Have you ever wondered what happens to your daily waste once it is disposed of at the nearest landfill? These dumping grounds trap waste groundwater with very little oxygen, which results in a slow decomposition process. Samarth Bharat Vyaspeeth (SBV), a non-profit organisation, and the Thane Municipal Corporation launched Project Revitalization in 2017 to send lesser waste to landfills and put it to some good use. The aim was to give the women rag pickers in the area a stable source of income and to collect dry waste from as many households as possible. Till date, they have employed nearly 24 women rag pickers and saved 30 tonnes of waste from ending up at landfills every day.
Women rag pickers at the waste management centre in Kopri, Thane
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SBV’s waste management centre is in Kopri, where dry waste is segregated along with floral and garden waste. “Nearly 8,000 women in the city are rag pickers, and it was important to provide them with a life of dignity. We encouraged people to segregate their waste; we have also started collecting dry waste from housing societies with the help of the municipal corporations’ garbage trucks,” shares Ulhas Karle, director at SBV. Today, one lakh homes in the district contribute to this initiative and give away their collected dry waste every two weeks. Currently, their projects include converting floral waste to manure, garden and horticulture waste to fuel briquettes, upcycling garbage to coal, and plastic to furnace oil. “We approach people to donate old and used goods such as books, toys, antiques, gadgets, musical instruments and furniture. We upcycle these items and include them in our book and scraps library at minimum cost for individuals who cannot afford them otherwise,” CEO Bhatu Sawant informs us.
Ulhas Karle
Since this activity was managed on Whatsapp, and in order to bring more structure to the process, they developed a pan-India app called the Recycled Earth in early 2020. Citizens keen to know more can sign up for their workshops and seminars where they are taught about terrace gardening, home and society-level composting, as well as waste segregation.
At: Project Revitalization, Thane Municipal Corporation Sewage Treatment Plant, Daulat Nagar, Thane East
Log on to: recycledearth.com to contribute or @therecycledearth on Instagram
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