SAMBA, DECEMBER 05: In a major step toward strengthening plastic waste management in rural Jammu & Kashmir, Director General, Rural Sanitation Anoo Malhotra on Friday inaugurated a state-of-the-art Plastic Recycling Facility at Samba.
The unit has been established with the support of the Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA) and SBI Cards under its CSR initiative.
The launch aligns with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Directorate of Rural Sanitation and IPCA, under which rural households will be paid ₹10 per kilogram for clean dry plastic waste.
Officials said the incentive is expected to boost household-level segregation and ensure that low-value plastics, such as polybags, wrappers and multi-layered packaging, enter the recycling chain instead of accumulating in rural landscapes.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Malhotra said the facility marks a turning point in rural waste management across the Union Territory. “Plastic menace is dangerous as it directly affects health, soil, water and everyday life,” she said.
She added that the Samba facility “is an eye-opener and must be replicated in the Kashmir division as well,” noting that raw material is available at the doorstep and urging more entrepreneurs to help strengthen the recycling ecosystem.
Others who attended the event included Zaheer Abbas Bhat, Deputy Director Rural Sanitation, Jammu, ACP Samba, BDOs of the district, Consultants from the PMU of Directorate, officials from SBI and others.
The DG also called for enhanced CSR partnerships to support plastic collection systems, community-level segregation infrastructure and stronger market linkages for recycled products.
IPCA Director Ashish Jain, who attended the inauguration, highlighted the unique challenges of plastic management in J&K.
“Jammu’s terrain makes waste collection difficult, and tourist areas contribute to high plastic loads,” he said. “This facility will reduce logistics costs and create sustained demand for low-value plastics. Our objective is to operate it at full potential.”
BDO Samba Saqib Sharief Khan emphasised the importance of decentralised waste management and community participation. He pointed to local innovations such as the ‘10 kg Plastic Model’ and door-to-door segregated waste collection systems operating in villages.
“This facility connects our grassroots efforts to an actual recycling process,” he said, assuring full administrative support for its functioning.
Officials noted that the new recycling unit will significantly enhance the Union Territory’s capacity to manage plastic waste and contribute to the broader objectives of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).
By institutionalising plastic collection and scientific processing, the facility is expected to prevent plastic and MLP from becoming a health and environmental hazard in rural areas.
