Bhubaneswar, June 13: In a bid to strengthen solid waste management and keep the city clean, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday launched a PET bottle collection drive in collaboration with Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two organisations for the initiative.

The programme was inaugurated at the Jagamara Food Court in the presence of Bhubaneswar Ekamra MLA Babu Singh, Mayor Sulochana Das, Deputy Mayor Manjulata Kahar, BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana, Health and Sanitation Standing Committee Chairman Biranchi Narayan Mahasupakar, Cultural Standing Committee Chairman and local corporator Ramachandra Ranasingh, Additional Commissioner Kailash Chandra Das and Hindustan Coca-Cola National Head Tushar Pattnaik, among others.

As part of the initiative, Hindustan Coca-Cola will work jointly with BMC to collect used PET bottles from different parts of the city. A dedicated collection vehicle was flagged off during the event and will initially cover selected areas. The drive will later be expanded to other parts of Bhubaneswar and its adjoining regions, Mayor Sulochana Das said.

Stating that discarded PET bottles contribute significantly to environmental pollution, the Mayor said special collection bags would be placed at food streets, eateries, beverage outlets, vending zones, shopping malls and other public locations to facilitate proper disposal and recycling of plastic bottles.

BMC Commissioner Chanchal Rana said extensive awareness campaigns would be conducted to encourage citizens to deposit used plastic bottles in the designated collection bags.

Under the agreement, BMC will provide an electric light commercial vehicle (EV-LCV) for the collection drive, while Hindustan Coca-Cola will oversee the collection and recycling process. The initiative was coordinated by Deputy Commissioner (Sanitation) N. Ganesh Babu.