City’s 1st waste management park at Neeri

Nagpur: On its 61st foundation day, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) dedicated the first-of-its-kind ‘Waste Management Park’ to the city.
Conceptualized by Neeri director Rakesh Kumar and Atya Kapley, head of director’s research cell, the park has been built in partnership with Anasuya Kale Chhabrani and Shefali Dudhbade of NGO Swachh Association. It was inaugurated on Monday morning by Shekhar Mande, director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and other dignitaries.

Aimed at creating mass awareness about importance of reuse, recycle and segregation of waste, the park itself is an exemplary of ‘best out of waste’. All the eye-catching artefacts have been prepared from discarded items from Neeri’s campus. “We have re-used various scrap items to create the park. Our intention is to educate public on the different types of waste and how to segregate them,” said Kapley.

Whether it’s a water fountain created from a waste laboratory sink, a walking bridge built with discarded water pipes, artefacts made from scrapped iron or flower beds made from broken slides and discarded timber – every attractive thing inside the park comes from waste.

The park has an exhibit area inside a hut which highlights what citizens can do to reduce waste generation. “Using one bamboo toothbrush is equivalent to four tooth brushes, one reusable bag is the same as using 170 plastic bags, one metal straw is equal to using 540 plastic straws, ” a board states.

As per the information displayed in the park, an average person generates 500-grams to one kilogram of solid waste daily. Another exhibit area provides detailed information about wet, dry, hazardous and e-waste.

Neeri is aiming at expanding the park by building more informative huts. The institute also plans to keep it open for the general public.