Mumbai Rajdhani train: Railways install first plastic bottle crushing machine

Mumbai: The Western Railway for the first time has installed a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle crushing machine in Mumbai Rajdhani Express. This machine can crush up to 3,000 bottles per day. The PET bottle crusher machine was installed in the train as part of the Indian Railways' Swachh Bharat and Go Green missions and ties in with an impending ban of single-use plastic by the Centre.

The move by the Western Railway of installing a PET bottle crushing machine is expected to reduce carbon footprints by 100 per cent recycling and will also avoid littering in landfill from bottle waste.

These machines can accept all types of PET bottles from 200 ml to 2.5 litres capacity and has an internal storage bin of approx 20 litres which is equivalent to 1500 bottles.

Western Railways has also put up selfie points at Churchgate and Andheri stations to make people aware of the plastic ban.

Mumbai Rajdhani is a super fast express train that runs between Mumbai Central and New Delhi.

Rail passengers will soon be served tea, snacks and meals in kulhads and other earthenware plates at 400 major stations across the country. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will be providing 30,000 electric potter wheels and also grinding machines to recycle/crush the earthenware, according to a report in PTI.

"We are giving 30,000 potter wheels this year which can be used to produce 2 crore kulhads and other terracotta utensils daily," Vinai Kumar Saxena told PTI.

During the address to the nation on the Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for freedom of India from single-use plastic."Can we free India from single-use plastic? The time for implementing such an idea has come. My teams will be mobilised to work in this direction. Let a significant step be made on October 2."

—With inputs from Agencies