<aside> 💕 Project Hara Kal (हरा कल): Kerala, the 'mountain place', is known for its mountainous terrain and Arabian Sea shoreline which supports tea, coffee and spice plantations as well as an abundance of wildlife. In Hindi, हरा कल means green tomorrow.
This Impact Project is our effort to stop ocean-bound plastic waste from leaking into Kerala's beautiful palm-lined beaches and to revive the dreamlike wonders of the aquatic life that lives in the depths of our oceans. It is our ode to Kerala's beauty and our contribution to a greener tomorrow.
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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/0dd1ba1f-0b35-4dd2-90b2-9974ad3c8d87/2.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/0dd1ba1f-0b35-4dd2-90b2-9974ad3c8d87/2.png" width="40px" /> Project Type: Recovery of low-value plastic waste
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<aside> 📍 Location: Malappuram, India
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<aside> ☘️ # of Waste Workers: 320+
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https://www.google.com/maps/place/Malappuram,+Kerala,+India/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x3ba64a9be29b058f:0x23e371e0d4c30d8e?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJ84fUytXwAhUGrpQKHQ6NBqoQ8gEwAHoECAQQAQ
<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/dc9f0093-5576-4b17-ab67-db220342fcd8/Untitled_design_(11).png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/dc9f0093-5576-4b17-ab67-db220342fcd8/Untitled_design_(11).png" width="40px" /> Without your help, the plastic waste that we recover through this project would have ended up in oceans
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In Kerala, over 50% of the population lives in 940+ small villages, where formal waste management systems are practically non-existent due to limited resources and remote location of these areas.
70-80% of plastic packaging used in Malappuram comprises of low-value plastics that are currently either being burnt or dumped in nature. This includes soft, flexible types of packaging such as candy wrappers and chips packets. The most at risk are those that have multiple layers of plastic along with a metal coating inside, since it is almost impossible to separate the materials out in order to recycle them.
Often, harder types of plastic like PET that are easier to recycle, have a recovery rate of over 60-70% because of its inherent economic value. However, low-value materials like MLP have a recovery rate of less than 5%, and are most likely to leak into the natural environment and pollute our waterways. No waste collection system in place in any of the identified villages means that all municipal waste is openly dumped, burnt, or leaks into the ocean.
With Project Hara Kal (हरा कल), we are creating a brand new waste collection supply chain for a group of villages.
Project Hara Kal (हरा कल) ****is a collaboration between rePurpose Global and Green Worms, one of the country's most innovative waste management enterprises. Project Hara Kal (हरा कल) mobilizes local women and youth to participate in the project by funding their training and employment. We are creating a waste management supply chain that collects and ethically processes neglected low-value plastic that would otherwise have been destined for our oceans.
Your contributions help create infrastructure for sorting, segregating, and transporting the recovered low-value ocean-bound plastics. Once processed, recyclable waste is sold to local recyclers and non-recyclable waste is transported to cement kilns for co-processing. Energy is recovered from the non-recyclable plastic and the remaining waste material is effectively disposed of, without harmful emissions through co-processing. Co-processing is the best environmental option as prescribed by the United Nations Basel Convention for unrecyclable plastics. Energy is recovered from the plastic and the remaining waste is effectively disposed of without harmful emissions. We are also able to extract some of the minerals in the plastic waste and use them in the creation of cement. Not only does this initiative dispose of unrecyclable plastic waste without sending them to landfills, but it also reduces the usage of coal in the cement manufacturing process, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
For every piece of plastic that rePurpose Global gives you credit for, it is a piece of plastic that would otherwise not have been removed from our ecosystems.
A 100% of the plastic recovered on your behalf is "Ocean-Bound". What this means is that this project focuses on the collection of plastic waste in a 100km radius from the coastline (as defined in the Verra Plastic Standards) that would otherwise have not been collected and would most likely end up in oceans. Essentially, it is an intervention to divert this plastic safely away from the oceans before it ever has a chance to leak into it.
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