Bengaluru: RLG launches 'Clean to Green on Wheels' to raise awareness on tackling e-waste

Bengaluru: RLG India, a subsidiary of Munich-headquartered Reverse Logistics Group (RLG), a leading global service provider of comprehensive reverse logistics solutions, has announced the company's awareness and collection strategy for FY 21-22 by introducing "Clean to Green On Wheels" programme under its flagship campaign, Clean to GreenTM (C2G). The awareness program is unique not only in its approach, but also in its coverage!

Under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and in line with the Digital India movement, the Clean to GreenTM On Wheels would see nine mini commercial vehicles (chotha hatti) covering the expanse of 100,000+km across India; they have distinct beat plans in place and shall holistically cover about 110 cities and 300 towns across the country.

The main objective of the program is to reach out to a diverse audience including school students, corporations, bulk consumers, retailers, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), dealers, informal sector, and healthcare providers, spreading the word about the dos, don'ts and hazards associated with E-waste.

Clean to Green on Wheels will spread awareness to the end users with an objective of 'Organic E-waste Collection'. It aims to cover a total of 326 schools, 188 RWAs, 134 office clusters/bulk consumers, 176 retailers, 156 informal sectors, and 4 healthcare camps via on ground workshops apart from 4000+ collection program activities.

The collection drive was flagged off on Tuesday from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KPCB) premises. Under this program, among the various e-waste awareness initiatives that would be adopted to influence e-waste related decisions and change consumer behaviour as well as encourage adoption of sustainable practices, RLG would conduct a PAN India Student Videography Competition, inviting students and schools across the country to create a video highlighting the current e-waste problem and offer possible best practices to deal with the same. The contest winner video will be used as a Clean to Green Brand video for FY 21-22.

Electronic waste (e-waste) typically includes discarded servers, computer monitors, motherboards, printers, mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones, television sets, washing machines, air conditioners, refrigerators etcetera. India is currently the third largest producer of e-waste in the world.

Gracing the event as the chief guest, Srinivasulu, Member Secretary, KSPCB congratulated RLG India on this initiative and shared his thoughts on the program.

"Even as technological advancements are opening up new and unique doors of opportunities for growth and development in the country, they are creating a greater and more urgent need for each individual to become conscious of appropriate methods to dispose of the electronics once they become obsolete.

The Clean to GreenTM on Wheels is a ground-breaking opportunity to reach out to millions of Indians, turning each one of them into ambassadors for spreading awareness of the correct ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, and dispose-of e-waste, for a greener and healthier environment."

Talking about this tremendous start of FY21-22 during the times of this unprecedented pandemic, Radhika Kalia, MD, RLG India, said, "As a company, we have been continuously working towards our goals of establishing a formal e-waste management infrastructure in the country, despite various roadblocks created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With this latest e-waste awareness program, we are looking at encompassing the entire country by accelerating the pace of spreading awareness about the importance of adopting proper e-waste disposal and recycling methods. At RLG India, we are confident that Clean to GreenTM On Wheels would be a game-changer in the e-waste management space."