BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters on Sunday became the first office in the capital city to adhere to the practice of zero waste.
Officials said the initiative was launched to mark the International Day of Zero Waste, observed annually on March 30, to highlight the importance of strengthening waste management and the need to promote sustainable consumption.
As part of the practice, the corporation has taken several measures including engagement of zero waste nodal officers, formation of zero waste committees on each floor, regular training, self-assessment, banning single-use plastic and preventing food wastage, they added.
The civic body carried out awareness campaign among the employees from February 5 asking them to adhere to the fresh practices in the office. As part of the behavioural change strategy, BMC has decided to come up with zero waste passbook for its employees and replace plastic bottles with steel or glass bottles on the office premises.
Green, red and blue dustbins are being placed in the office for wet, hazardous and plastic waste respectively, and the employees have been directed to use the designated bins as per the instruction. This apart, they have been strictly prohibited from spitting or consuming tobacco and betel nut products within the office premises. Instead of discarding paper scraps and other unwanted materials into dustbins, steps are being taken to recycle them and make this exercise a regular affair, said a senior official.
“We want to develop a culture of proper waste management and showcase our practices that could be replicated in other government offices. Apart from planning to extend the initiative to other offices, we have also promoted the concept in 20 other schools and 10 of them have already become zero waste institutional campuses,” municipal commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said.