Jaideep Gokhale, sustainability director, Tetra Pak South Asia, said, “At Tetra Pak, we have long believed in honourable prime minister Narendra Modi’s proposition to start looking at waste as wealth. Our cartons are paper-based, recyclable and have the lowest carbon footprint among all other packaging materials used for similar food products. So, when we choose carton packaging, we are already making a positive choice.

“And when we segregate used cartons from our waste, we ensure that waste pickers earn an additional livelihood, and the used cartons get recycled into many useful items like benches, desks, notepads and roofing sheets. But it all begins with waste segregation at source and its recovery – which is precisely what Alag Karo aims to drive across communities. After the successful completion of the first phase of the programme, we look forward to continuing on the journey and taking this message to more citizens.”

With the support of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Alag Karo 2.0, the second phase of the source segregation programme, was launched in the presence of Vinay Pratap Singh, municipal commissioner, Gurugram. The MCG and Saahas signed an MoU to create awareness and implement source segregation of waste at ward levels including ward number 32. While the programme’s first phase had targeted high-rise residential societies, commercial complexes and institutions, the focus of the second phase is directed towards independent houses, slums, small shops and street markets in the city. 

Divya Tewari, CEO, Saahas, said, "We’ve certainly come a long way. Alag Karo, the programme which today is entering into its second stage initially kicked off at a city level, on a smaller scale, say in a single colony or a village. Today, it has branched into a systematic source segregation programme with clear and transparent outcomes. Each activity undertaken as a part of the programme has brought in new learnings for us and has helped us evolve a detailed step-by-step approach for implementing and sustaining source segregation. We are confident that much like the first phase, Alag Karo 2.0 will also be very successful and rewarding. We appreciate the support provided from our programme partners, Coca-Cola India, Tetra Pak, GIZ and the local authority – Municipal Corporation of Gurugram.” 

The Alag Karo 2.0 launch witnessed participation from a wide range of stakeholders across local authorities, RWAs, private partners and NGOs. The event highlighted the importance of citizen engagement in the promotion of waste segregation and management and the efforts made by the MCG, in ensuring scientific management of city waste. 

Ishteyaque Amjad, vice president, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said, “At Coca-Cola India, we are driven by our vision of creating a ‘World Without Waste’- recycling every bottle or can that we sell by 2030. For this, we have a three-pronged strategy - Design, Collect and Partner. We are proud to once again liaise with our implementing partner SAAHAS to drive, create and accelerate waste collection and segregation at the source level. The amount of waste that is being generated today and its subsequent ramifications are alarming, and the onus is on each one of us to drive a behavioural change at an individual level. This will help us not only contribute towards the Indian government’s Swachh Bharat Mission but also create a green, clean, healthy, safe and sustainable environment.”

Dr Ashish Chaturvedi, director - Climate Change and Circular Economy, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, said, “Alag Karo is supported under the Development Partnership with Private Sector (DeveloPPP.de) programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with project partners GIZ, Tetra Pak, Coca-Cola and Saahas. The project aims at increasing recycling rates through source segregation of waste, proper collection and processing of waste. This will result in reduced landfills and harmful greenhouse gas. The project will also improve the working conditions of the informal sector through access to segregated waste and by undertaking various pieces of training and capacity building measures.”

The main objective of Alag Karo 2.0 is to enhance the understanding and sensitivity towards sustainable waste management by promoting source segregation and sensitising over 100,000 people in the city. The programme aims at achieving improved recycling rates and reduction in dumping and landfill, through formal engagement with 300 waste workers for training on systematic waste collection and processing. 

Also, the second phase of the programme will extend to New Delhi, reaching 2,000 households initially and will render support towards existing RWA volunteers and apartment communities of the programme.