Srinagar is soon going to have reverse vending machines at identified public places across the city the aim being to encourage scientific disposal of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste products and protection of the environment.The machines also called as RVMs are being installed under the Smart City project. The Srinagar Smart City Limited or SSCL is taking care of their installation and monitoring and maintenance.The RVMs being installed in Srinagar are the same Zeleno brand machines as have been installed in major cities across India. These smart machines solve the problem of managing solid plastic PET waste as these allow for disposing them off scientifically and thereby protecting the environment.In addition to polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottles these machines also collect for recycling other non-biodegradable waste products like cold drink aluminium cans and miuti-layer packaging materials.In the first phase 20 reverse vending machines will be installed within two within months. These machines will be installed at identified locations in various areas of the Srinagar city.The users will be rewarded with cash backs and discount vouchers for disposing off the said waste material into these machines — the idea being to encourage scientific disposal of non-biodegradable waste and protection of the environment.
Seventy to hundred percent of the PET and other drinking container waste disposed off in these reverse vending machines are returned for recycling making these machines the best available for scientific disposal of the said waste in India.The SSCL Tuesday gave a demonstration of the acquired Zeleno machines to the Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary who is also the Chief Executive Officer SSCL.During the demonstration it was informed that these machines can compress over 90 PET bottles an hour crushing and shredding them before the waste is returned for recycling. Their total capacity it was said ranges from 2000 to 5000 bottles or cans.Each of these RVMs has a digital screen. The users open the door of the smart bin and drop in the waste bottle or can by following the basic commands on touch screen. The sensors of the machine detect the aluminium and scan the bottles. The details of the PET and aluminium bottles are then tallied with the database and then it is passed through the conveyor belt.Dr Shahid while speaking on the occasion said the protection of the environment is amongst the top priorities of the Srinagar administration adding that the introduction of reverse vending machines for scientific disposal of PET waste in Srinagar city is a small step in the direction of putting in a place a mechanism therefor.