KOCHI: On Saturday, August 29, a new plastic waste handling facility was inaugurated in Kochi, by Vice Admiral Anil K Chawla, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command (SNC). The facility was built as part of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project of the Cochin Shipyard at a cost of nearly Rs 46 lakh. The pilot project has been successfully implemented by the Steel Industries, Kerala (SILK).
The facility will be owned and operated by Indian Navy Ship (INS) Venduruthy on the behalf of SNC. It has the capacity to recycle approximately 150 kilogram of plastic in an hour. It can also process both soft and hard plastic waste into shredded form so that it can be recycled and used to produce other commodities.
India recycles nearly 60 per cent of its total plastic waste. This is three times more than the global average of 20 per cent recycled plastic. The construction of such facilities is a positive step towards clean and scientific handling of plastic waste by the community and one step further towards SNC’s endeavor of zero plastic waste going out.