SAMBALPUR: In a bid to curb plastic menace, Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) will instal Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) in different parts of the city. The RVMs will help manage plastic waste besides encourage people not to litter. Anyone can dump used plastic bottles in the RVM for recycling.
RVMs have already been installed in Bhubaneswar. Sambalpur will be the second civic body in the State to instal these machines.
In the first phase, the SMC will instal RVMs at three different locations, including Bus Terminus at Ainthapali, Sambalpur Railway Station at Khetrajpur and Science Park at Burla. Three more RVMs will be installed in the second phase.
SMC Enforcement Officer Subhankar Mohanty said the civic body has already invited Request for Proposal (RFP) for installation of machines. The firm, to be selected, will supply, instal and undertake the operation and maintenance of RVMs for three years. If everything goes as per plan, machines will be installed at three different locations by the end of January, he said.
Mohanty said the RVM, which will run on electricity, will crush plastic bottles. Each RVM will have the capacity to crush around 300 plastic bottles per hour. Each machine will crush about 3,000 bottles per day. The crushed bottles could be reused, he added.
The civic body has also planned to give gift coupons to those who use RVMs. The coupons could be exchanged at various outlets.
The objective behind the gift coupons is to encourage people to use the machine. However, the final decision on gift coupons will be taken only after installation of RVMs, he said.