The government campaign to make “Plastwood” from plastic waste in environmentally sensitive Uttarakhand will bear fruits in the coming days. For this, the Panchayati Raj Department, with the help of the Centre, is intensively brainstorming on giving the plastic recycling plant established in Mujahidpur Satiwala of Haridwar district in PPP mode. District Panchayat Haridwar is somehow operating this plant, built for the purpose of disposal of plastic waste generated from villages. The plastic consumption capacity of the plant is three tonnes per day.
Plastwood will be used like this
Experts say that if this plant is operated as per its capacity, it will not only help in getting rid of plastic waste, the use of plastic wood prepared from it as an alternative to wood will also help in saving trees.
The campaign was to free from plastic waste
Like the urban areas of Uttarakhand, the Panchayati Raj Department had earlier drawn up an action plan to free the villages from plastic waste. Under this, emphasis was laid on collecting plastic waste generated from villages and setting up recycling plants to prepare plastic wood from it.
The central government also accepted it
The Central Government also accepted this and provided financial assistance through Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan for the availability of compactor machines and establishment of recycling plants to compact the plastic waste collected from the villages. After this, with the cooperation of the Center and the State, a recycling plant was established in Mujahidpur Satiwala, Haridwar at a cost of about Rs 7.5 crore.
The matter had reached the High Court
Earlier, this recycling plant was given to a contractor for operation, then this contract was canceled due to it not being in accordance with the PPP mode. The matter reached the High Court and the court appointed an arbitrator. Last year, the contractor concerned withdrew his case from the High Court. Thereafter, the responsibility of operating the plant was given to District Panchayat, Haridwar. The District Panchayat deployed six personnel to operate the plant. Along with making Plastwood there as a trial, products like benches etc. were also prepared from it. Despite this, this plant is not operating as per its capacity. A major reason behind this is the non-availability of plastic waste from the districts.
Preparation to run the plant in PPP mode
In view of all this, the government has now started brainstorming to simplify the process of transporting plastic waste to the plant and also to operate the plant in PPP mode. According to sources, the government has asked the Panchayati Raj Department to conduct on-site inspection and provide the proposal as soon as possible. Then a decision will be taken in this regard.
