Railways introduces bagasse-based food packaging on premium trains

New Delhi: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched its trial run of environment friendly bagasse-based food packaging on eight premium trains originating like Shatabdis and Rajdhanis originating from New Delhi.

This initiative comes as a part of the Railways' drive to go green as it also aims at boosting the nation's sugarcane industry.

Bagasse, the fibrous remains left behind after extracting sugarcane juice, is being used to make disposable cutlery and containers in which meals will be served.

Provision will be made to collect the used packaging which will then be processed for disposal through composting to ensure environmental sustainability.

Informing about the same, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal took to Twitter and said, "A Small Step to Beat Plastic Pollution: On World Environment Day, Indian Railways has started using fully biodegradable packages in four Shatabdi and four Rajdhani trains from Delhi, contributing towards a greener planet (sic),".