J-K: Plant to recycle 1-ltr milk cartons set up at army base

To increase the recycling of empty one-liter milk cartons, a specialized compacting plant has been set up for the army in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, and according to officials, this will help tackle an annual waste of 12 lakh packs.

The cartons cannot be recycled at normal paper waste plants and hence, specialized compacting plants are needed. If not recycled, these can rapidly accumulate, posing a high risk to water bodies and soil in the long run, they said.

The plant was installed at Khanetar Nallah by Cosmo Foundation, the social arm of Cosmo Film Limited, as part of its green initiative to support the army and offset the carbon footprint of increasing non-biodegradable materials generated by locally stationed troops, a spokesperson of the company said.

''The induction of the specialized compacting plant is an effort to reduce the non-biodegradable annual waste of 12 lakh empty cartons of one-liter milk Tetra Paks - consumed by the army due to rarity of fresh produce in the often-inhospitable terrains as a part of daily rations,'' the spokesperson said.

Yamini Jaipuria, managing trustee, Cosmo Foundation, said such cartons cannot be recycled at normal paper waste plants and hence, special compacting plants are needed.

''If left unrecycled, these cartons can rapidly accumulate, posing a high risk to local water bodies and can also pollute the soil in the long run,'' the trustee said.

''The addition of the compacting plant in Poonch will aid in creating a sustainable recycling chain in the Valley and will be another step forward under the foundation's green and clean initiatives,'' Jaipuria said.

General Officer Commanding, Ace of Spades Division, Major General Rajeev Puri, who inaugurated the plant, expressed gratitude to the foundation for its contribution to the armed forces to conserve the environment and boost the ecology.

The spokesperson said the compacting plant in Poonch would compact the empty cartons into small pellets which will be cost-effectively transported to a recycling plant at Khatima, near Dehradun in Uttarakhand.