Covestro (India) launches The Uberslashies Dialogue with Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation around #EndPlasticWaste celebrating World Environment Week 2019.
Pune, June 17, 2019: Covestro (India) kick-started The Uberslashies Dialogue – an interactive discussion between students, academia, civil society and experts working in the area of plastic waste mitigation. Mr. Tushar Pawar, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation graced the occasion held at Bharatiya Vidyapeeth’s College of Architecture, Navi Mumbai in conjunction with Mumbai Sustainability Centre.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Ajay Durrani, Managing Director (India) said; “It is always fascinating to come back to the classroom and interact with the students on plastic waste management. The keen interest that the future generation is taking in circular economy, is bound to make an impact. The aim of the Dialogue is to interact with the students at different levels, explaining ways of contributing towards a brighter world.
Today, individuals can be part of a social organization and create awareness. At the same time, it is important for cities and industries to find ways to #EndPlasticWaste through better waste management as well as research in new sustainable materials. The Uberslashies Dialogue is to spark self realisation and look at creative ways to view waste as a resource in the circular economy system.”
The event organised during World Environment Week 2019, focussed on four of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal 11), Climate Action (Goal 13), Life Below Water (Goal 14) and Partnerships for the Goals(Goal17). The speakers included Ms. Ritu Deshmukh Principal, Bharatiya Vidyapeeth’s College of Architecture, Mr. Ajay Mishra, Founder, Biocrux – a PET Bottle Flaking Machine, Ms. Shaan Lalwani, Founder Coco – a natural and non-toxic home cleaning products company and Mr. Rishi Agarwal, Founder, Safai Bank – an initiative that encourages students to collect and deposit plastic packaging.
“It is great to see this generation of young people involved in problem solving and coming up solutions to #EndPlasticWaste. We need to empower young minds through dialogues like this to create sustainable impactful solutions. We are seeing a positive shift in the thought process of people – they have started feeling the responsibility of keeping their city clean and this is why Navi Mumbai is consistently ranked among the top 10 cleanest cities in India.”
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is also ranked 7th across India and 1st in Maharashtra. This was possible only because of teamwork and most importantly because of the public support. Without the support of different stakeholders, no Corporation can achieve the goals of cleanliness in the city” said Mr. Tushar Pawar.
The Uberslashies Dialogue began with speakers talking about their experiences around plastic waste and Mr. Pawar explaining measures and campaigns undertaken by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation in the area of solid waste management to be ‘the city of the future’. He also mentioned public art being designed with post consumer waste and the building of a community space and toilet with recycled and sustainable material. All the particpants of the Dialogue then participated in a design thinking process to come up with solutions in and around Navi Mumbai.
