From today, eco-friendly plates to replace polymer plates in select trains

From today, passengers travelling on some premium trains will be served meals on eco-friendly, disposable plates made of bagasse, instead of those made of polymer, as part of the Indian Railways' drive to go green, a statement from the national transporter said.

On World Environment Day, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) launched its trial run of environment-friendly, bagasse-based food packaging on eight select Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains originating from New Delhi.

"A Small Step to Beat Plastic Pollution: On #WorldEnvironmentDay, Indian Railways has started using fully biodegradable packages in 4 Shatabdi and 4 Rajdhani trains from Delhi, contributing towards a greener planet (sic)," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.

The IRCTC will now use bagasse -- the fibrous remains after extracting sugarcane juice -- to make disposable cutlery and containers, in which meals will be served.

"Provision will be made to collect the used packaging, which will then be processed for disposal through composting to ensure environmental sustainability," the statement said.

The railways aims to introduce the bagasse-based packaging on all the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duranto trains in the coming months.