Tetra Pak, a world-leading food processing and packaging solutions company, has tied up with The Kabadiwala, a well-known local waste management venture to increase the collection of used beverage cartons in Bhopal. Consumers who wish to sell their used cartons can do so by booking a pick-up through The Kabadiwala app or its website and be paid for their waste in return.
The team will also set up 70 deposit points at public places across the city where consumers can drop off their used cartons for recycling. In addition, The Kabadiwala will work closely with the municipal corporation of Bhopal to recover used packs of juice/milk, etc., from the corporation’s sorting centers as well. All collected cartons will be sent to the nearest recycler, Khatema Fibres, in Uttarakhand for recycling.
With this new partnership, Madhya Pradesh has become the 23rd state/union territory covered by Tetra Pak’s extensive collection network. This network covers 39 cities and 14 Indian Army contingents, supported by over 27 collection and awareness partners across 23 states and union territories.
Jaideep Gokhale, sustainability director, Tetra Pak South Asia, said, “This partnership is an important milestone in our journey of 17 years over which we have established a collection ecosystem across the country. Madhya Pradesh is a very progressive state when it comes to waste management, and we had been looking for a strong partner to help us recover used carton packs efficiently for recycling. The Kabadiwala team is just the right partner for us with their extensive network and unique model that makes it convenient for consumers to actively participate in recycling while also working closely with waste-workers to recover cartons from other sources.”
Tetra Pak cartons are paper-based and recyclable. Once collected, they can be recycled into various materials like paper, waterproof poly-aluminum, or panel boards, which are then turned into useful items like classroom furniture for disadvantaged schools, roofing sheets, notebooks, seats and backrests for commercial vehicles and more.
“Our strategy to make this initiative a two-fold success – to raise awareness among waste-workers to recover more and more carton packs which will help them generate additional income; and to increase citizen awareness about recyclability of cartons,” says Anurag Asati, co-founder, The Kabadiwala.
