Tetra Pak donates school desks, garden benches and bins made from recycled cartons for Swachh Shimla

Students of Govt. Senior Secondary School, Kasumpti will soon return to their classrooms with brand new desks which are beautiful, sturdy and carry an important message – the power of recycling. Tetra Pak India, together with the Shimla Municipal Corporation donated 20 desks in the presence of Suresh Bhardwaj, Minister – Urban Development, Town & Country Planning.

The desks are made from recycled carton packages, and the donation is part of Tetra Pak’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness about waste segregation and recycling. In addition, over 20 garden benches and 10 bins made of recycled cartons will be installed along the Mall Road in Shimla and other prominent locations. The intent is to inspire citizens to start looking at used cartons not as waste, but as a valuable resource.

The brand has been promoting the recycling of carton packages for many years, including the donation of thousands of recycled such items to beneficiaries across the country.

Suresh Bhardwaj formally flagged off the donations by unveiling the first recycled bench on Mall Road. He also handed over the desks to the Principal of Govt. Senior Secondary School, Kasumpti, Meera Sharma. Appreciating the initiative, Bhardwaj also expressed his wish to see the initiative strengthen with support of the local citizens and assured all possible support on behalf of the people of Shimla.

“I believe that we must start looking at our waste as wealth and as a resource. I urge the citizens of Shimla to actively adopt waste segregation at home and help recycle used carton packages into useful products like these desks and benches. Not only will this help build a swachh Shimla, and support local communities like schools, but also help improve the working conditions of our Safai Sathis,” he said at the donation event.

Jaideep Gokhale, Director – Sustainability, Tetra Pak South Asia said, “Our cartons are paper-based, recyclable and have the lowest carbon footprint among all other packaging materials used for similar food products. So, when we choose carton packaging, we are already making a positive choice. And when we segregate used cartons from our waste, we ensure that waste pickers earn an additional livelihood, and the used cartons get recycled into many useful items like benches, desks, bins, roofing sheets and more. Donating recycled products to the local community is a great way to showcase how a simple conscious act of waste segregation and recycling can create a positive ripple effect on the community around you. We hope that the people of Shimla will join forces with us and the Municipal Corporation to bring a long-term positive change.”

The Municipal Corporation suggests that citizens segregate their household waste into a dry waste bin (for dry recyclable waste like paper, carton packages, plastic bottles etc) and a wet waste bin (food waste) so that the recyclable waste can be recovered successfully in a clean/dry state by the waste-pickers and sent to the relevant recycling stream.

Tetra Pak has tied up with Green Recycling Links, an end-to-end waste management company, to accelerate collections of used carton packages starting with Baddi, followed by Shimla and Solan. In addition, the company already has a collection center at Rampur, set up with support from the local Indian Army contingent to collect the carton packages consumed by them. Green Recycling Links will work with local partner Khurana Polymers who have a strong collection footprint in the state. The collected carton packages will be sent to the company’s recycling partner – Khatema Fibres Ltd. in Uttarakhand – for recycling.

Tetra Pak along with its partners has been strengthening the carton package recycling eco-system in the country for over 17 years. The used carton packages are collected and recycled into various materials like paper, waterproof poly-aluminium, or panel boards which are then turned into useful items like classroom furniture for disadvantaged schools, roofing sheets, notebooks, seats & backrests for commercial vehicles and more. Today, the company’s collection network includes 31 cities and 14 Indian Army cantonments, covering 22 states and Union Territories. This network is supported by 30​ collection partners and 4 recyclers across the country. ​​​​

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