RiverRecycle’s plastic waste collector now functional in Mumbai, India

The Mithi River Project started in October 2020 thanks to the funding from Huhtamaki as part of their larger initiative to promote global sustainability initiatives with local impact. In cooperation with United Nation’s Global Pulse, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Earth5R, an India-based environmental entity, RiverRecycle’s operation reduces the input of plastic into the Indian Ocean. The hosting community will secure improved waste collection, a healthier environment and more established employment. The project has also served as RiverRecycle’s pilot for implementing its circular economy solutions, proving the functioning of the RiverRecycle concept after extensive testing phase.

“Thanks to Huhtamaki funding, we were able to transform our project into a working solution,” says Anssi Mikola, CEO and founder of RiverRecycle. “Also, we are grateful to the partners’ for the collaboration, which assured the success of the operation. This is the first project of several which transform plastic waste into a resource, with the positive engagement of surrounding communities”.

“We believe in protecting food, people and the planet. We also believe that cooperation across the value chain with key stakeholders is needed to address global sustainability challenges, for example such as in this case marine plastics. If we want to drive systemic change, we not only need to support the development and commercialization of innovation that can help stop waste from getting into the oceans, but we also need the monetization of waste and incentivization of local communities to improve their waste management practices,” says Thomasine Kamerling, Executive Vice President Sustainability and Communications at Huhtamaki.

More details, images and interviews as well as background information regarding the project are available on RiverRecycle’s project website: https://www.riverrecycle.com/india-mithi-river-cleanup/

River cleaning project

To recover the plastic floating along the Mithi river, Riverrecycle Oy, supported by the above-mentioned partners and local administration MMRDA, has installed a device that concentrates and guides floating plastic into an automated collector, lifting it out of the river. The device is designed by RiverRecycle and it is able to capture up to 50 tons of waste daily. The system includes a sorting station and will be including waste segregation facilities, available to the local community. Part of the recycled waste revenues will be used to sustain the process, enabling RiverRecycle to provide river cleaning as a free service for the hosting community.