Bangalore City Railway Station will become plastic free with the installation of a pet bottle crushing machine. The initiative has been taken as the BBMP is facing problems disposing of plastic waste in the city. South Western Railway division of Indian Railways has tied up with Biocrux to provide plastic bottle crushing machine at the City Railway Station. The machine will be thrown open for public use on Monday.
“The machine has been set up at the entrance of the station. This is our effort to make the railway station plastic free. Travellers can feed used plastic bottles directly into the machine. The major reason for blocked drains is plastic and pet bottles. BBMP is also facing difficulties in tackling the problem,” said a senior railway official. The machine can recycle empty pet bottles, cans, soft packaging material wastes etc. It will help reduce the waste volume by up to 90% instantly and the machine is easy to manage with minimum efforts.
“The machine will help keep the station clean and will also create awareness on waste. It will save the cost of transporting plastic waste,” the official said. Plastic has become a menace for a growing city like Bengaluru which generates over 5,000 tonnes of waste every day. Garbage consisting of plastic waste clogs drains and chokes lakes. The Lok Adalat recently asked the state government to ponder over banning plastic. BBMP wants to focus on segregating waste at source.