The civic body has installed 10reverse-vending machines for plastic waste disposal under the Smart City project. In the first phase of the project, the bottle-crushing machines have been installed at the Civil Hospital, city bus stand (2), DC complex (2), HMV College, DAV College, KMV College, Municipal Corporation (MC) office and Devi Talab Mandir.
For disposing a plastic bottle smartly, a user will also be rewarded with a coupon. MC Commissioner Karnesh Sharma said eight such plastic bottle-crushing machines would also be installed at major locations of the city in the second phase of the project that would be completed by the next week. The machine is capable of crushing and storing around 2,000 bottles and cans every day. “The machine will not only keep the city litter and pollution-free, but will also provide Rs5 coupon to people. The coupons will be sent to users via their smartphones. They will only have to fill their mobile numbers while crushing their bottles in the machine to avail the coupons, which can be redeemed from empaneled hotels or shopping malls. The move will encourage people to throw plastic bottles and waste in the machines.
The machines are capable of crushing and compressing 2.50 ml-2.5 liter bottles. With a cost of Rs1.11 crore, Ridhi industries, an Ahmedabad-based firm, will take care of the operation and maintenance of the bottle crushing machines for five years. A mobile application would also be launched shortly to caution workers as to when the machines would be filled completely. The steps to use the machines have been taped outside the machine.
