Mumbai dabbawalas to help recycle tetrapak cartons

Packaging and processing major Tetra Pak has tied up with Mumbai's famed 'dabbawalas' or lunch box carriers for a unique initiative -- Cartons Le Aao, Classroom Banao -- to fund education efforts from recycled tetrapak cartons, an official said here on Wednesday.

Under the initiative, part of ongoing 'Go Green with Tetra Pak' campaign, plans are afoot to recycle over 800,000 cartons, which will fund 200 school desks this year. It was launched by Urban Development Principal Secretary Manisha Mhaiskar.

The six-week multi-city effort commencing in Mumbai will be implemented in collaboration with Reliance Fresh's CEO Damodar Mall, Sahakari Bhandar, NGO RUR Greenlife's founder Monisha Narke and Tetra Pak's Jaideep Gokhale.

Special bins to collect used cartons will be placed at 42 Reliance Fresh and Sahakari Bhandar stores, and the cartons will be recycled into school desks for underprivileged schoolchildren.

The Mumbai dabbawalas will spread the message through their daily lunch boxes supplies to Mumbaikars, urging them to recycle their used tetrapak cartons for this initiative, said their President Arjun Sawant.

Tetrapak cartons are paper-based and can be recycled to make articles like desks, notepads, exam pads and even house roofs.

--IANS

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