A PET bottle recycling machine that provides masks installed at the Coimbatore Railway Station. | Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

On the day when notified single use plastic ban came into force in the country, Southern Railway in partnership with a startup company and an NGO installed a PET bottle recycling kiosk at the Coimbatore Railway Station.

“Once a bottle is dropped into the fully automated machine, it will give a choice for people to choose either to get a mask or to know their weight. Based on the choice, either a packed surgical mask will be provided by the machine, or it will display the weight of the person in the LED board, if they stand on the pedal,” said Ranjith, co-founder of ‘Drop n Draw’, the company that manufactures the machine.

The dropped bottle will be crushed into pieces by the shredder. The company that maintains the machine takes out the accumulated pieces from the machine to process and recycle it to make yarn.

Mr. Ranjith also said this was the first-of-its-kind in the country in which a mask would be provided for a bottle. “The cost of the kiosk was ₹3.5 lakh and Ladies Circle India, the NGO, sponsored the machine to be installed at the station,” he added.

“Many people will be willing to deposit bottles as the machine gives out mask, which is useful during the time of COVID-19,” said T. Lawrence, Station Manager, Coimbatore.

A passenger said initiatives of this kind would reduce the accumulation of plastic bottles at the railway lines.

The Salem-based start up is in the process of making a similar kind of machine that gives out manjapai (eco-friendly yellow cloth bag) for bottle.

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Printable version | Jul 1, 2022 6:41:26 pm | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/coimbatore-railway-station-gets-mask-for-bottle-kiosk/article65589475.ece